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The 

DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


BY A. HYATT VERRILL 

THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 
THE BOOK OF THE MOTOR BOAT 
ISLES OF SPICE AND PALM 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
Publishers New York 

200 A 













We’re homeward bound, may winds blow fair! 
Good-bye, fare ye well! 

Good-bye, fare ye well! 

Wafting us true to friends, waiting there. 
Hurrah, my bullies, we’re homezvard bound! 




The 

DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


ADVENTURES ON A WHALER 


BY 

A. HYATT VERRILL 

AUTHOR OF “THE REAL STORY OF THE WHALER.” "ISLES OF 
SPICE AND PALM,” “THE BOOK OF THE MOTOR BOAT,” ETC, 



D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
NEW YORK : : 1922 : ; LONDON 


COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



PRINTED IK THE HKITED STATES OP AMEBIOA 


g)C!.A659093 

MAR 13 ’22 


'Ta* I 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

1. The Boys Make a Bargain 1 

II. Outward Bound 17 

III. There She Blows! 34 

IV. A Narrow Escape 53 

V. Strange Visitors 68 

VI. An Island Quite Out of the World . . 83 

VII. How Cap’n Pem Lost His Leg . . . .Ill 

VIII. Elephant Island 123 

IX. Spinning Yarns 140 

X. Lost 158 

XL A Strange Message 175 

XII. The Raiders 197 

XIII. Homeward Bound 211 

XIV. The Boys Make a Discovery .... 225 



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> i^r. 







THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


CHAPTER I 


THE BOYS MAKE A BARGAIN 
H, Tom!” cried Jim Lathrop, as he 



dashed into his chum’s den, “what do 


you think? They’re fitting the Hector 
out for a cruise!” 

“Come on, I don’t believe it. You can’t fool 
me that way,” replied Tom, tossing aside his 
book. “What’s the joke? Why the old Hector 
wouldn’t float — she’s had grass growing out of her 
seams for years.” 

“Honest, they are, though,” asserted Jim. “If 
you don’t believe it come along and see.” 

Grabbing his cap, Tom hurried out with his 
friend, and the two boys ran down the shady, 
sleepy streets of old Fair Haven towards the water 
front. 

It was little wonder that Tom was incredulous of 


1 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Jim’s news, for, to the boys, the ancient whaling 
bark Hector was as much of a fixture as the village 
church or the town hall. As long as they could 
remember the old ship had lain on the mud flat be- 
side the abandoned old whaling docks, her dingy, 
weather-beaten sides rising far above the rotting 
stringpieces of the wharf; her spars, gray from 
countless storms and years of sunshine, sagging 
and awry; her tattered and frayed standing rigging 
slack and her deck warped and with open seams. 
Built nearly one hundred years ago, the Hector 
had for generations been the pride of the great 
New Bedford whaling fleet, but, long before 
either of the boys had been bom, she had been 
towed to her resting place upon the Fair Haven 
flats and abandoned to the elements. 

But to the boys of the village she had been a 
source of never failing amusement. Upon her 
decks they had played pirate, buccaneer and 
whaler by turns. Within her tumble-down deck 
houses imaginary mutineers and freebooters had 
massacred innumerable officers. From her broad, 
stout crosstrees the boys had peered forth at count- 
less treasure islands, and within her dark and 
2 


THE BOYS MAKE A BARGAIN 


musty hold they had languished in chains or had 
stowed away on imaginary voyages. 

Somehow, upon the old ship, the boys seemed 
actually to live in the stirring days they reacted, 
for old Capt’n Pern, the dock watchman, had spent 
many an afternoon spinning yams of his youthful 
whaling days while seated on the heel of the HeC' 
tor’s bowsprit. He had related stories of cannibal 
attacks, of mutinies, of boats stove in and ships 
rammed by frantic whales. The boys had listened 
breathlessly to his accounts of men drifting in open 
whaleboats for thousands of miles after being 
towed out of sight of their ships by whales, and 
as he had served as mate on two voyages of the 
Hector, the boys had but to close their eyes to 
see the characters he described and the exciting 
events in which he had taken part. Moreover, Jim, 
or, as his friends called him, ‘‘Jimmy,” had found 
the old log of the Hector in the Historical Society’s 
museum across the river in New Bedford, and the 
boys had read it word for word and had found it 
more fascinating than any book of fiction, for 
they knew every inch of the old bark as they did 
their own homes. They knew the very yardarm 
3 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


from which a mutineer had once been hung; they 
could still see the holes made by the bullets of 
Chinese pirates in the stout cabin door; they 
searched for and found the very bunk wherein the 
mate had been pinned down by the spear of a 
Solomon Island cannibal, and the criss-cross cuts 
where poor “Crazy Ned” had cut his “baccy” on 
the fo’c’sle steps were still visible. Tom, too — 
who was forever reading books on strange, far- 
away lands — had told the other boys of the places 
the old ship had touched on its many cruises. He 
painted vivid word pictures of the desolate 
Croisettes, of little-known Gough Island and vol- 
canic Kerguelan in the storm-lashed Antarctic. He 
described the queer penguins and broad-winged 
albatrosses, the palm-fringed coral isles of the 
tropics, the swift proas of the Malays, the frozen 
wastes of the Arctic and the blistering doldrums, 
until he and his friends could transport themselves 
at will to any part of the world, or any spot in the 
seven seas, merely by clambering on to the Hector s 
warped old decks and setting sail in make believe 
on a three years’ cruise. 

And, best of all, the boys’ parents encouraged 

4 


THE BOYS MAKE A BARGAIN 

them, for they all were of old whaling stock and 
had almost as much fondness for the old Hector 
and the past glories of the whaling fleet as did 
the boys. Moreover, the boys’ fathers were not 
slow to notice that, by playing about the old bark 
and listening to Cap’n Pern’s yams, the boys were 
absorbing a vast amount of useful knowledge of 
the sea and of seamanship, as well as of foreign 
lands and people. They had learned to climb 
aloft, to run up the ratlines and to man the yards 
like real sailors, and they acquired a full command 
of nautical terms, orders and phrases. And in 
this old Cap’n Pern had been their instructor. 
He had shown them how to knot, splice and bend 
ropes; he had made them repair the rotting rat- 
lines and foot- ropes; he had insisted that they 
must be “proper sailor men” in their play; and, 
in order to teach them how to swing and square the 
yards, clew up the sails and otherwise “navigate” 
the old hulk, he had helped them rig braces, 
halliards, clewlines and other running rigging 
from odds and ends stowed in his cozy little home 
at the head of the wharf. Under his tutelage 
the boys had learned how to box the compass, 
5 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


how to steer, how to give orders for trimming 
sail, and both Tom and Jim had gone a step farther 
and had learned how to “shoot the sun” and work 
out latitude and longitude. 

Often, the old seaman would take a part in the 
boys’ fun himself; sometimes as captain, at other 
times as able-bodied seaman, which he always 
took as a huge joke, remarking with a chuckle 
that, “I’ve seen a mighty queer lot o’ timber a-callin’ 
o’ theirsel’s sailors; but I’ll be stowed if I ever 
seen a wooden-legged A. B. afore.” 

But despite his wooden leg, Cap’n Pern managed 
to get about as lively as any of his young friends, 
and he would tail on to a brace and roar out some 
deep-sea chantey with the boys joining in the 
chorus, with as much vigor and heartiness as 
though the Hector were once more plowing her 
way through blue seas instead of being high and 
dry on a mud flat. 

But neither Cap’n Pern nor the boys had ever 
dreamed of the Hector going to sea in reality. 
From her opened seams, grass and weeds were 
growing luxuriantly; within her hold the tide rose 
and fell exactly as it did outside and, as the 
6 


THE BOYS MAKE A BARGAIN 


old salt vowed that New Bedford whalers were 
built to last forever, the Hector seemed doomed 
to be a permanent landmark at the end of the 
elm-shaded street. 

So, as the two boys hurried to the dock, 
Jim found it hard work to convince Tom that 
they were about to lose their wonderful play- 
ground. 

‘‘I just went down to see if you or any of the 
fellows were there,” explained Jim, “and I found 
a whole crowd of workmen. They had a truck 
full of rope and tackle and paint and tar and 
everything. Some of them were on board and 
others on the dock and they’d already taken off a 
lot of the old rigging and were tearing the grass 
and stuff out of the seams. Cap’n Pern was there 
too and I asked him what they were doing and 
he chuckled and said, ‘Didn’t I tell ye, Jimmy, a 
New Bedford ship weren’t never too old to go 
a-cruisin’? They’re a fittin’ of the Hector fer a 
v’yge.’ ” 

“I’ll bet he was just jollying you,” declared 
Tom. “Perhaps they’re going to fix her up and 
take a movie of her, just as they did on the Viola, 
1 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


you know. Perhaps that’s what Cap’n Pern meant 
— a movie voyage. Why, Jimmy, the Hector 
couldn’t go to sea.” 

“Well, we’ll soon know,” replied Jim. “Look 
at that now! They’re taking down her yards.” 

The boys had now reached the dock, and sure 
enough, as Jim had said, a crowd of laborers were 
busy on the wharf and on the Hector, and the 
sound of hammers and axes, of loud orders, and 
the creak of tackle blocks awoke echoes which the 
dock had not heard for generations. 

Already nearly all the yards of the old ship 
had been taken down and were laid upon the dock 
where men were planing and cutting them; the 
grass and weeds had been removed from the 
cracks in the planking and men were busy cut- 
ting and tearing out the old caulking. The ragged 
shrouds were being taken off and, on a hanging 
stage under the bowsprit, carpenters were working 

on the massive stem. 

\ 

“Gosh! It does look as if you’re right,” ad- 
mitted Tom, as the two boys stopped, and with 
wonder, gazed upon the bustling scene. “Oh, 
8 


THE BOYS MAKE A BARGAIN 


there’s Cap’n Pern! Let’s go and ask him all about 
it.” 

Approaching their old friend, the boys plied 
him with questions. 

‘‘Sure, they’re a-fittin’ of her out fer a cruise,” 
he avowed, seating himself on one of the yards. 
“Reckon ’iles so almighty sky high — ^what with 
this ’ere war an’ all — that old man Nye jest 
couldn’t resist the temptation o’ fittin’ out fer a 
cruise.” 

“Where’s she goin’?” he continued in answer 
to the boys’ queries. 

“Gosh hanged ef I know! Any seas mos’ likely. 
Ain’t nary one o’ the chaps here as knows nothin’ 
’bout it. Jest had orders ter overhaul the ol’ 
Hector an’ git her ship-shape an’ ready fer sea. 
Jake Potter’s gang ’tis. Ain’t seed Jake or I’d 
know more erbout it.” 

“But aren’t you surprised?” asked Tom. 
“When Jim told me, I wouldn’t believe it. Why, 
it don’t seem possible. How on earth can that 
old hulk float?” 

“Surprised?” chuckled the old salt. “Say, son, 
time ye git as ol’ as I be an’ been to sea fer a 
9 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


matter o’ forty year, ye won’t find nothin’ to 
surprise ye. ’Sides, what’s so surprisin’ ’bout a 
good ship goin’ t’ sea after a bit o’ rest? Float? 
Course she’ll float. Why, boys. I’ve been a-cruisin’ 
fer sparm in the western ocean an’ jammed in the 
ice in Behring Sea fer five years in a ship what 
was jes’ punk ’longside o’ this ’ere Hector. Float! 
Why, bile me down fer blubber, if she ain’t a 
floatin’ long after these ’ere new-fangled, sawed- 
timber jimcracks o’ ships what the gov’ments a- 
buildin’ of has been scrapped fer a hundred year. 
Why, boys, don’t ye know the ol’ Hector well 
enough to know she’s jes’ as sta’nch an’ sound as 
the day she was built? Long’s her timbers ’re 
sound an’ her keel an’ garboard strake’s not rotten, 
she’s all right; an’ I’ll bet my wooden leg ’gainst 
a chew o’ baccy thet she’s as sound as a trivet 
to-day.” 

“But won’t it cost more to fix her up than to 
build a new ship?” asked Jim. 

The old skipper shook his grizzled head. “No, 
sirree,” he declared. “Ships is mighty costly these 
days, an’ ’sides, where ye goin’ ter find any one 
thet knows how ter build a proper whale ship? 

10 


THE BOYS MAKE A BARGAIN 


Why, blow me, ye can’t find a man what knows a 
blubber-hook from a fluke-chain nor a clumsy- 
cleat from a scrap-hopper outside o’ New Bedford. 
Course she’ll need a bit o’ tinkerin’, few new 
planks an’ riggin’; a bit o’ caulkin’, and like as 
not, some new spars. But shucks, that ain’t much. 
Reckon’ they’ll have her all fine an’ dandy an’ 
ready fer sea inside a month.” 

“But how are they going to caulk her and fix 
her here in the mud?” inquired Tom. “Won’t 
they have to tow her over to the dry dock?” 

Cap’n Pern roared with merriment. 

“Bless yer heart, no!” he cried when he could 
control his laughter. “Didn’t ye ever see a ship 
hove-down? But o’ course ye haven’t. Why, 
they’ll jes clap a tackle on to her mastheads and 
heave her down till they git to her bottom, easy 
as eatin’ pie.” 

“Well, I’ll like to see that,” declared Tom. “I 
should think it would pull the masts out or crack 
her wide open.” 

“Nary a mite,” the captain assured him. 
“Whale ships is made fer hard work an’ knockin’ 
about, not fer looks. Course there ain’t many o’ 
11 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


these ’ere schooners nowadays what’ll stand fer it; 
but ye jes wait an’ see how the ol’ Hector takes it.” 

For the rest of the afternoon, Tom and Jim, in 
company with a number of boy friends who joined 
them, stood upon the dock watching with interest, 
and not without pangs of regret, the rapid dis- 
mantling of the bark. 

‘‘Reckon ’tis kind o’ hard on ye kids,” remarked 
Cap’n Pern, when one of the boys expressed his 
sorrow at losing the old ship. “Dumed if I don’t 
hate ter have her go myself. Kind o’ like losin’ 
of an ol’ friend. Jest hope I’ll be spared ter see 
her cornin’ horn’ ag’in. Bet she’ll be full up and 
with a shark tail on her jibboom.” 

Not until the laborers knocked off work did 
the boys turn from the dock towards their various 
homes, and by then, the Hector had been stripped 
bare of her rigging; huge pieces of rotten wood 
had been cut from her stem; planks had been tom 
from sides and decks; her cabin and galley had 
been ripped out; and, as Tom remarked, she looked 
more like a wreck than ever. 

As Jim lingered to talk with Tom before the 
latter’s home, Mr. Chester drove up in his car, 
12 


THE BOYS MAKE A BARGAIN 


and instantly the two boys told him the wonderful 
news of the bark. 

“Yes, boys, I heard about it,” he replied. “Mr. 
Nye was in the office to-day to see about outfitting. 
He’s fitting the Hector out for a voyage to the 
South Shetlands for sea-elephant oil. Come in 
and have dinner with us, Jimmy, and I’ll tell you 
both all about it.” 

“Gosh, that’s way down by the South Pole,” 
exclaimed Jim as the two boys followed Tom’s fa- 
ther into the house. “Say, Tom, what are sea-ele- 
phants? You never told us anything about them.” 

“I don’t exactly know myself,” admitted the 
other. “Seems to me I did read something about 
them in some book; sort of a giant seal, I think, 
but I don’t understand how a whaler can go after 
them for oil.” 

Tom’s father, however, soon explained all about 
sea elephants, the gigantic seal-like creatures with 
trunklike noses, which dwell in the Antarctic seas 
and upon the desolate islands there. 

Formerly, Mr. Chester told them, the sea 
elephants congregated in herds of countless thou- 
sands upon the shores of the South Shetlands, 
13 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Kerguelan, the Croisettes and other Antarctic 
islands, but as they were stupid creatures and had 
never seen men, they fell an easy prey to whalers 
who killed them for their blubber. So rapidly 
were they slaughtered that they would soon have 
become as extinct as the Dodo or the Great Auk, if 
the European governments, who owned the islands, 
had not taken steps to protect them and prevent 
hunting them. 

‘‘Then how can the Hector go after them?” 
asked Tom. 

“Because, owing to the war, there has been such 
a shortage of oil that the British government has 
given permission to hunt them under special 
license,” replied Mr. Chester. 

“Do you really think the old bark ever will 
get there?” asked Jim. 

“I haven’t a doubt of it — unless she’s sunk by 
a submarine. Those old ships were built to last 
forever, as Captain Pern says, and Nye’s had the 
Hector looked over and her timbers and most of 
her planking are soimd. It will be a far more 
difficult matter to find a crew than to get the bark 
into seagoing shape.” 


14 


THE BOYS MAKE A BARGAIN 


‘‘Golly, wouldn’t that be a dandy cruise to take!” 
exclaimed Tom. “Just think of seeing penguins 
and albatrosses and sea elephants and icebergs and 
everything!” 

“Yes, and think of really going whaling on the 
old Hector!’^ cried Jim. 

“Sea elephanting, you mean,” laughed Tom. 
“Say, father, will they call the crew ‘sea-elephant 
men’?” 

“They’ll do considerable whaling too, I expect,” 
laughed his father, “and no matter what a whale- 
man does he’s still a whaler — even when they went 
to Africa after slaves in the old days and never 
hunted whales.” 

“Then ’twould be all the more fun — if they 
hunted whales, too,” declared Tom. “Gee, I do 
wish we could go along. Couldn’t we go as part 
of the crew or something. Dad? You always said 
we’d ought to go on a real cruise, you know.” 

“Nonsense,” said Mr. Chester. “You two boys 
would be a nuisance, and besides, even if Nye 
would let you go, and I didn’t object, and the 
captain gave his consent, your mother and Jim’s 
parents would be worried to death. The ship 
15 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


might be sunk by a submarine, and she’ll probably 
be away for a year or more and where we never 
could hear from her. Besides, you’d be sick and 
tired of the trip before it really began. You don’t 
realize what a whaling cruise is like. Go over 
and see Nye to-morrow and he’ll tell you a few 
truths that will make you change your views about 
a whaling life being a lark.” 

“Well if we don’t, and Mr. Nye will let us go, 
and Jimmy’s folks will let him go, and the captain 
will sign us on, then will you let me go?” teased 
Tom. 

“There are altogether too many ‘if s’ in that,” 
laughed Mr. Chester, “but I’ll make a bargain. If 
Nye and his skipper are fools enough to let you 
two go and all the other ‘ifs’ are eliminated I’ll 
give my consent on one condition, and that is, that 
old Captain Pern is the mate.” 

“Hurrah!” cried the boys in unison. 

Mr. Chester chuckled. 

“Fm perfectly safe in making that bargain,” he 
declared. “There’s about as much chance of a 
wooden-legged mate on a whaler as there is of 
the Hector coming back with a load of ambergris!” 


CHAPTER II 

OUTWARD BOUND 

T he boys scarcely could wait to finish their 
breakfasts, so anxious were they to see the 
owner of the Hector. Arriving in New 
Bedford across the harbor, they at once hurried 
to Mr. Nye’s office, only to find that he was not in 
and was not expected for an hour. 

‘‘Let’s go over to the museum,” suggested Tom, 
and the two boys hurried downstairs, turned into 
a waterfront street, and a few moments later, 
reached the Old Dartmouth Historical Society with 
its wonderful whalers’ museum. 

Here they always found plenty to interest them 
and the time passed quickly as they studied the 
fascinating exhibits of whaling weapons and 
utensils, old prints, log books, and, best of all the 
half-size model of a New Bedford whaling ship 
complete in every detail. 

As they were about to leave the building and 
passed by the office, they noticed the genial curator 
17 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


talking with a man whose back was towards them. 

“Hello, boys!” called the curator, “I understand 
you’re about to lose your ship. Where are you 
off to now?” 

“Yes,” replied Tom, “but we’re going to try and 
go on her. We’re going to see Mr. Nye now and 
ask him if we can.” 

The curator laughed. 

“Want to turn real whalemen, eh? How about 
your parents’ consent?” 

“Oh, they’ve consented,” replied Jim, “that is, 
Tom’s father said he could go if Mr. Nye and the 
captain were willing and if Cap’n Pern went as 
mate and my folks said they’d agree to that, too.” 

“Well, well!” chuckled their friend. “So now 
you’re going to ask Nye and try to get him to 
ship old Pern just to help you, I suppose! Well, 
there are worse mates than he’d make. Come in 
here, boys, I want you to meet an old friend of 
mine.” 

As they entered the office the stranger turned and 
the boys was he was a clean-shaven, leather-faced 
old man with a merry twinkle in his keen, blue 
eyes. 


18 


OUTWARD BOUND 


“Captain,” said the curator, “here are a couple 
of boys who want to ship on the Hector, Jimmy 
Lathrop and Tom Chester. You know Chester, 
the ship chandlery and hardware man, Tom’s 
father. How do you think they’ll do for whale- 
men? Boys, this is Captain Edwards of the 
Hector, 

Shaking hands cordially, the old whaleman con- 
sidered for a moment. 

“Hmm,” he said at last, “what’s your rating, 
boys, A. B.’s, boat steerers, coopers, cooks, cabin 
boys, navigators or just ordinary deck hands?” 

The boys laughed. 

“I don’t know,” admitted Jim. “Anything, if 
we can go, except cooks or coopers or boat- 
steerers.” 

“Then you’ve had previous experience, eh?” 
asked the captain striving to maintain a grave face. 
“What ships have you been on?” 

“The Hector,^’ promptly replied Tom, with a 
grin. “We’ve been everything on her from stow- 
aways to captain.” 

“Captain Edwards burst into a hearty laugh. 
“So you’re some of the youngsters that have been 
19 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


using my ship for a playground, eh?” he ex- 
claimed. “And now you’d like to take a real try 
at the game. And your dads said you could if 
I’d take old Pern for mate, eh?” 

‘Tes, sir,” said Tom, “and father said that was 
just about as likely as for the Hector to bring back 
a load of ambergris.” 

The captain and the curator burst into hearty 
laughter. 

“That’s pretty good!” declared the old skipper 
at last. “But stranger things have happened to 
whalemen, boys. Many a ship’s brought home a 
mighty good cargo of ambergris and I’ve sailed 
with a wooden-legged captain, let alone a mate.” 

“These boys can navigate,” put in the curator. 
“Cap’n Pern’s taught them nearly all there is to 
know about handling a ship, except going to sea.” 

“Indeed!” exclaimed the captain with new in- 
terest. “Now, boys, let me ask you some ques- 
tions.” 

For the next half hour Captain Edwards plied 
the boys with queries on seamanship, navigation, 
ropes and rigging, handling sails, nautical and 
whalemen’s terms^ and in fact, everything he could 
20 


OUTWARD BOUND 


think of. Then, banging his fist on his knee, he 
exclaimed, ‘‘Why, hang it all, Frank! These two 
kids could get second officer’s tickets to-morrow, if 
they were old enough. Boys, come along over to 
Nye’s office.” 

“Gosh! I’d forgotten about seeing him,” cried 
Tom as he and Jim rose and hurried out with the 
captain. 

Arrived at the ship owner’s office, the boys 
quickly told Mr. Nye of their desire to go on the 
Hector and repeated the conditions on which their 
parents had consented. Then, when they had 
finished, the captain drew the owner to one side 
and conversed in low tones with him for a few 
moments. 

“Well, boys,” said the Hectares owner, resuming 
his seat, “I have no objection if Captain Edwards 
hasn’t, and he tells me he’d be glad to take you, 
as you might be useful. You see, it’s mighty dif- 
ficult to get a crew of any sort now and navigators 
are scarce as hens’ teeth. Of course, he wouldn’t 
count on you as full-fledged officers; but he thinks 
you’d be more useful than ornamental and that 
two husky, wide-awake boys who really know the 
21 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

old Hector from stem to stem would be worth their 
keep — might help in breaking in the green hands, 
you know. Of course, you’d find it a mighty rough 
life — ^not all beer and skittles by any means — -and 
a dirty job too. But I was younger than either of 
you when I first went on a cruise and it did me a 
pile of good — made a man of me and taught me 
a lot — and hard work never hurt any boy yet. 
Yes, as far as I’m concerned, and Captain Edwards 
too, you’re more than welcome on the Hector; but, 
of course, that doesn’t mean you’re going. Don’t 
forget old Pern is one of the conditions, and I’ve 
never had a wooden-legged mate on one of my 
ships yet!” 

“Oh, dam!” exclaimed Jim, “I think they might 
let us go, anyway.” 

“Fm not going to be discouraged yet,” declared 
Tom. “I’ll bet I can tease dad into letting us go, 
even if Cap’n Pern isn’t mate.” 

But despite his statement, the two boys felt 
downhearted and discouraged the rest of the day, 
for it was even worse to have the captain’s and the 
owner’s consent and still be unable to go on the 
cmise than it would have been had their parents 
22 


OUTWARD BOUND 


refused to listen to their pleas in the first place. 
And that evening, when Tom endeavored to 
wheedle his father into withdrawing the conditions 
he had made, he found him obdurate. While he 
was still arguing, Jim and Mr. Lathrop called and 
the latter declared that he, too, would stick to his 
original conditions. Very disconsolate were the 
two boys as they sat down to dinner, for they 
realized now that their cause was hopeless, that in 
giving their conditional consent their parents had 
known they were perfectly safe. 

But presently their spirits began to revive and 
they were chatting and laughing as gaily as ever. 
Then, when the meal was nearly over, the door bell 
rang and the servant announced: ^‘A gentleman to 
see you. Master Tom. He said to tell you he was 
mate of the Hector. He’s waiting in the library.” 

“Mate of the Hector!’^ exclaimed Tom in puzzled 
tones, “I wonder what he wants. I didn’t know 
Captain Edwards had a mate yet. I’ll bet he’s 
come to tell us he’s mate just so we’ll know there’s 
no chance. Gee! I think Mr. Nye might have 
taken Cap’n Pern just for our sakes.” 

“Nye’s sending the bark after oil, not to please 

23 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

you boys,” Mr. Chester reminded him as he left the 
room. 

As Tom reached the library and glanced within, 
he started as if he had seen a ghost and stood 
speechless, staring with imbelieving eyes at the 
figure seated in the big Morris chair. 

“Reckon I did surprise ye!” chuckled Cap’n 
Pern. “Jest signed on fer mate o’ the ol’ Hector 
an’ kinder thought ” 

What he was about to say was drowned in the 
wild yell Tom let out as, turning, he dashed down 
the hall. 

“Jim!” he shouted as he burst open the dining 
room door. “Jim! We’re going! It’s Cap’n 
Pern and he’s mate of the Hector! Hurrah! 
Hurrah!” 

Leaping from his chair, Jim tore into the library 
with his friend, both yelling like Indians and pranc- 
ing about the old sailor until he thought they had 
gone stark, staring mad. 

“Avast there! Lay off!” he cried, “What in 
the name o’ tarnation’s the matter with ye?” 

Presently in disjointed sentences, the two boys 
managed to explain the cause of their excitement. 
24 


OUTWARD BOUND 


“I’ll be blowed!” exclaimed the old whaleman. 
“So that’s how the land lays, eh? So you’re the 
two third mates ol’ man Edwards was talkin’ 
erbout. Wondered what in Sam Hill he wanted 
two fer. Well, well, so we’re goin’ fer to be 
shipmates, eh? ’Spect Nye wuz jest jollyin’ of 
ye all the time. He knowed I wuz a-goin’ last 
night. Cap’n Edwards wuz over ter see me an’ 
wanted fer me ter go, but I wuz a leedle mite 
skittish ’bout this timber leg. Then, this arter- 
noon, he come over ter see the ol’ Hector an’ he 
sez ter me. Pern, he sez, ye’ve jes’ gotter sign on. 
’Lessen ye do I won’t have no other nav’gator er- 
long. Can’t git ’em ’lessen you come too. So I jes’ 
signed on then an thar.” 

“Hurrah for Captain Edwards!” shouted the 
boys. Then, as their parents entered the room, 
Tom cried: “Now what do you say, father? I’ll 
bet you’re surprised. Isn’t it bully, though!” 

Mr. Lathrop coughed and covered his mouth with 
his handkerchief and Mr. Chester strove to conceal 
a smile and winked at His friend. 

“Well, wonders will never cease,” he replied. 
“Luck seems to be with you, boys. I hope it will 
25 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


last through the cruise. And it will be some cruise, 
eh, Lathrop? Mate with a wooden leg, two boys 
for third mates, an eighty-year-old ship and 
Heaven alone knows what kind of a crew!” 

“Don’t ye fear erbout the crew, Mr. Chester,” 
spoke up Cap’n Pern. “That’s my job an’ my 
name ain’t Pern Potter if I don’ git ’em, if I have 
ter bust open the jail or the poor house an’ take the 
critters inside.” 

The others laughed. “I shouldn’t be surprised 
if they’d prove better than anything you’ll get else- 
where,” chuckled Mr. Lathrop. “The war’s taken 
every able-bodied man there is. You won’t find 
the crowd of park loafers and bums that used to 
form the bulk of whaling crews.” 

“Who said anythin’ erbout able-bodied men?” 
exclaimed the old seaman. “Jes’ so long’s they’ve 
got two feet an’ two ban’s it’s all I ask. Give me 
three months at sea with ’em an’ I’ll make whale- 
men outer anything what’s human. But I reckon 
I’ll be h’istin’ to’sails an’ gettin’ under way. I 
gotter be mighty busy from now on.” 

Bidding them all good night, and with a part- 
ing injunction to the boys to report at the owner’s 
26 


OUTWARD BOUND 


office and sign articles in the morning, old Cap’n 
Pern left the house and went stumping down the 
street on his wooden leg and so overjoyed at the 
prospect of being once more on a cruise that he 
broke into a rollicking old chantey. 

Now who d’ ye think’s the chief mate o’ her? 

Blow, boys, blow! 

A big mu-latter come from Antigua! 

Blow, my bully boys, blow! 

Long after he was out of sight, the boys could 
hear the chorus wafted to them on the soft night 
breeze. 

The next few weeks were busy ones for the two 
boys. They signed on as members of the Hector s 
crew, although there were difficulties to be over- 
come in doing that, for they were too young to 
secure navigators’ licenses. Finally it was ar- 
ranged that they should be rated as “boys” and as 
such were entitled to “lays” of 1/100 of the ship’s 
catch or, in other words, one barrel of oil out of 
every hundred, for whalers never work for wages, 
and when all this was attended to, the boys felt 
like real whalemen. Then, at Captain Edward’s 
27 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

suggestion, they worked daily at the Hector^ some- 
times on the rigging, and still oftener looking after 
the gear of the whale boats and the supplies which 
were being rapidly gathered together in readiness 
for the day when the bark would be ready for sea. 
It was a never-ending wonder to the boys to find 
what an enormous quantity of stores were required. 
As Tom put it, there was enough to supply a city 
and they could not believe that such a vast amount 
was necessary. Indeed, when the boys came to 
total up the lists of stores which they checked off, 
they discovered there were over seven hundred dif- 
ferent articles and that the total cost was nearly 
one hundred thousand dollars. It seemed a 
stupendous undertaking to stow all this away and 
the ship itself appeared a hopeless tangle of rig- 
ging, fittings and odds and ends. But gradually 
order came from chaos. The Hector was spick 
and span with a fresh coat of paint; her tall, taper- 
ing spars rose high above the docks; her massive 
yards were in place; her rigging taut and well 
tarred; and, at last one day, a fussy, little tug 
came hurrying across the harbor, and with a huge, 
new flag flying from her mizzen gaff and strings 
28 


OUTWARD BOUND 


of bright bunting everywhere, the stout old ship 
was towed from her herth and moored in the 
stream. To the elated boys, standing upon the 
clean, smooth decks it seemed impossible that the 
stately vessel whose shining masts and spars towered 
above their heads could be the same weather-beaten, 
dingy, dilapidated hulk which for so long had lain 
upon the mud flat and had formed a playground 
for them and their comrades. 

Soon lighters were alongside; the countless stores 
were rapidly put aboard; the immense sails were 
bent to the yards; and all was ready for the voyage, 
save the crew. 

Old Cap’n Pern had had his hands full getting 
enough men together to man the ship and do the 
work when they reached the hunting grounds, and 
he vowed, that never in all his experience had he 
seen such a good-for-nothing, worthless lot of 
human derelicts as the sharks had offered 
him. 

“Bet ye, ye’ll see some fun when we git out o’ 
soundin’s an’ start to break ’em in,” he declared. 
“Mebbe ye boys think as I’m a mighty easy-goin’ 
oT cuss but I reckon ye’ll think I’m a snortin’, 
29 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


tough oT bucko mate when we git to sea. Treat 
’em rough’s the only way ter handle of ’em. Ain’t 
nary one of ’em thet knows a marlin spike from a 
scuttle-butt I’ll bet.” 

“Why, aren’t they sailors?” asked Jim. 

“Sailors!” cried the old whaleman. “Sailors! 
Well I’ll be scuttled! Course they ain’t sailors. 
Why, bless your hearts, no whaler cap’n’d ship 
sailors if they paid their passage. Jest scum they 
be — gutter sweepin’s an’ bums on’y worse ’an usual 
’cause o’ the war.” 

“But if you don’t have sailors, how can you sail 
the bark?” asked Tom. “And why don’t you want 
sailors anyway?” 

“The mates an’ the four boat steerers sail the 
ship,” explained the old fellow. “Thought I told 
ye all ’bout sech things long ago. An’ the cooper 
an’ steward lend a han’, providin’ they’re needed, 
an’ arter we’ve broke in the greenies they’ll han’le 
the ol’ bark. Why don’ we want sailor men? 
’Cause sailors ain’t any use ’board a whaler. Fust 
place they growl an^’ cause trouble, secon’ place 
they desart at the fust po’t an’ third place they 
won’t work fer lays. Now I gotter be a gittin’ 


OUTWARD BOUND 


along an’ lookin’ arter things. The ol’ man’s given 
orders we’re a sailin’ at ebb tide to-morrer, so ye 
boys be on ban’ before ten.” 

Despite their eagerness to go on the cruise, and 
their excitement, still the boys felt a touch of 
homesickness and a lump in their throats as they 
bade good-by to their parents and their boy 
friends, the following morning, and realized that 
they would not see the quiet, shady streets of Fair 
Haven or their own comfortable homes for twelve 
long months or more. 

When they reached the Hector they found 
Captain Edwards, the second mate, the four boat 
steerers, the cooper, the cook and a carpenter on 
board. The second mate, or officer, was a long, 
lanky, down-east fellow with a ghastly scar across 
one cheek and which they learned had been re- 
ceived when his ship had been sunk by a German 
U-boat a few months previously. The boat steerers 
were all Portuguese from the Cape Verde Islands; 
the cook was a coal-black negro from Jamaica; 
the cooper was a blond-headed Swede and the 
carpenter a tiny, dried-up, white-haired Irishman. 
Soon after the boys were aboard, two boats ap- 
31 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


preached loaded with men and with old Cap’n Pern 
in the first. Running alongside, the men scrambled 
and clambered onto the deck and as they stared 
stupidly about, the boys thought they never had 
seen such a rough, unkempt, disreputable-looking 
lot of men. Sixteen in all, there was not one of 
their number who was not ragged and dirty. 
They were of every age, color and nationality from 
a tousled-headed, pop-eyed “boy” to a gray-headed, 
red-nosed, old rascal fully sixty, and several 
were negroes. But they had scant time to look 
about at their new surroundings for scarcely was 
the last one on board, before the second mate began 
to give orders, hustling the new hands about, and 
putting them to work, and while some were inclined 
to loaf and others were surly and answered back, 
the majority fell to and evidently did their best 
to follow instructions, although it was plain that 
the mate’s words held little meaning for them. 
Then the capstan was manned, a tug drew along- 
side and, as the boat steerers joined the men at the 
handspikes and walked the heavy cable in, their 
voices broke into the old, old chantey of Sally 
Brown: 


32 


OUTWARD BOUND 


“Oh, Sally Brown of New York City, 

Aye Sally, — Sally Brown, 

Of pretty Sal this is a ditty, 
ril spend my money on Sally Brown! 

So sang the men as the great anchor rose slowly 
to the catheads, and a moment later, the tug’s pro- 
peller churned the water and the boys saw the 
docks and buildings of New Bedford slipping 
slowly astern. The crowd on the piers and moored 
ships shouted and waved hats and handkerchiefs. 
The tug gave a farewell toot and the boys’ voyage 
had begun. 


CHAPTER III 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 

N O sooner had the bark commenced to move 
down the harbor, than a magic change 
appeared to take place. At the wheel, 
one of the boat steerers stood staring ahead and 
deftly gave the spokes a twirl as he kept the Hector 
to the tug’s course. Back and forth on the quarter- 
deck strode Captain Edwards, hands behind back 
and hat pulled low over his eyes. At the break 
of the poop, stood old Cap’n Pern, his ancient, 
peaked cap jammed on one side of his head, his 
shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows and his bushy 
brows drawn together in a frown. BeloW him, 
stood the lanky second officer, Mr. Kemp, barking 
out sharp, quick orders. From the galley, a 
slender column of smoke rose upwards, showing 
the cook was already at work. The crew were 
busy here and there under the directions of the 
boat steerers and the carpenter was wedging down 
a hatch cover. It was evident that strict discipline 
34 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


was now in order and the boys, resolved to do their 
part and to act as though they were bona fide 
members of the crew, commenced coiling down 
ropes that trailed across the decks. As they did so, 
Mr. Kemp grinned and Cap’n Pern winked at the 
skipper who stopped an instant in his stride to 
glance at the busy boys. 

Then, Cap’n Pern’s voice roared out orders to 
loosen sails and the two boys, anxious to show their 
skill and knowledge, as well as their willingness, 
ran nimbly up the ratlines and were the first out on 
the yards. One by one the great topsails were 
unfurled and halliards were manned. 

“They call me Hanging Johnny, 
Away-e-Oh ! 

They call me Hanging Johnny, 

So hang, boys, hang.” 

Thus roared the men, and, as the boys joined in 
the chorus, the heavy yards rose slowly, the sails 
were sheeted home, and as the bark passed the 
harbor mouth and caught the fresh offshore wind, 
the tug cast off her lines, blew a parting blast on 
her whistle and the Hector, under her own canvas, 
headed towards the open sea. 

35 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS. 


The breeze was fair and steady and under top- 
sails and to’gallant sails the bark swept smoothly 
on, a crinkle of white water under her forefoot, 
a yeasty wake trailing off astern and the soft hum 
of the wind in her taut rigging and great billowing 
sails. The boys, who had never been to sea ex- 
cept in steamers., thought they had never experi- 
enced anything so delightful as the sensation of 
sailing without the throb and noise of engines and 
the mess and dirt of smoke and cinders, and they 
were sure that they had never seen anything so 
beautiful as the huge, white sails straining at their 
braces, gleaming like silver in the sun, softly 
purple in the shadows and swaying majestically 
across the blue summer sky as the boys gazed up- 
ward at them in admiration. 

Dim and hazy in the distance, were the hills and 
shores; a mere smudge of smoke marked New 
Bedford; to port lay Martha’s Vineyard; and 
straight ahead was the broad Atlantic. 

But the two boys had been too well trained by 
Cap’n Pern to idle away the time admiring the 
pyramids of snowy sails overhead, or the gentle 
rise and fall of the deck beneath their feet, but 
36 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


busied themselves about the ship, coiling down 
ropes, explaining orders to the green crew, lending 
a hand here and there and making themselves 
generally useful. Presently, Mr. Kemp ap- 
proached. “Mr. Potter’d like Mr. Chester and Mr. 
Lathrop to step aft,” he said. 

For a moment the boys hesitated, puzzled, and 
then, despite every effort, laughed, for the officer’s 
formal method of addressing them struck them as 
very funny. They had never dreamed that they 
would be treated other than as boys and to 
be spoken to as officers was a distinct 
surprise. 

Quickly recovering themselves, however, the 
two hurried to the poop where the old whaleman 
was standing. 

“What is it, Cap’n Pern — ?”‘ began Tom, but 
he was instantly interrupted by the other. “Mr. 
Potter, sir!” corrected the old man with a twinkle 
in his eyes. 

“Yes, sir, what is it, sir?” inquired Tom, trying 
hard, to hide a grin. 

“Cap’n Edwards wants ye an’ Mr. Lathrop to 
git ready fer to take observations, sir,” replied 
37 


THE DEEP. SEA HUNTERS 


Cap’n Pern. “He says as how he’d like fer ye two 
youngs — Oh, gosh-ding it all what’s ther use! I’ll 
be blowed ef I kin keep it up. Call me Cap’n Pern 
ef ye like. I’m a goin’ ter call ye young scallywags 
or anythin’ else same’s I allers has. Well the ol’ 
— Cap’n Edwards I mean — ^wants ter hev ye shoot 
the sun an’ work out the position so’s he kin see 
how much ye know. It’s pretty nigh eight bells 
now, so hustle down inter my cabin and fetch up 
them two sextants there, an’ git busy.” 

“Yes, sir, Mr. Potter!” chuckled Jimmy, as the 
two boys dived down the companion-way. 

Regaining the deck, the two boys took up posi- 
tions and commenced squinting through their in- 
struments, while the old whaleman watched them 
critically. Unnoticed by them. Captain Edwards 
also drew near, and even Mr. Kemp ceased swear- 
ing at his crew long enough to glance at the two, 
for it was a novel sight to see two boys standing on 
the poop of a whaleship and handling sextants like 
old hands. 

“Eight bells!” cried Tom presently. “Eight 
bells!” echoed Jim, and at their words the eight 
mellow notes rang out from the bronze bell below. 
38 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


Hurrying down to the cabin, the boys commenced 
to work out their latitude while, on deck, Cap’n 
Pern slapped his thigh and chuckled. ‘‘HanTed 
them sextants jes’ as well as me or you could!” 
he declared addressing the skipper. “Bet ye, ye 
kin depen’ on ’em jes’ as well as any orcifer ye’d 
find. Jes’ wait ’till they give ye their figgers. 
They’ll be purty dost to kerect or I’m a Dutch- 
man!” 

“Here are the figures and position, sir,” said 
Tom as he appeared from the companion-way and 
handed two slips of paper to the captain. 

Captain Edwards glanced at them and a satisfied 
smile spread over his wrinkled, tanned face. 
“You’re longitude is right,” he said, “and there’s 
only thirty seconds difference in your two positions. 
Neither is out quite a minute — or less than a knot 
— and that’s mighty close work for the first ob- 
servation you’ve ever taken aboard a ship at sea. 
You’ve done very well — er — Mr. Chester and Mr. 
Lathrop. From now on, you may consider your- 
selves as third and fourth officers and entitled to 
lays of one in fifty each. I shall expect you to 
take observations daily.” 

39 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“Told ye they’d be demed near ferect!” cried 
Cap’n Pern. 

“But, captain, can’t we help with the work just 
the same, if we are officers?” asked Tom, “It’s 
lots of fun.” 

The captain rubbed his chin reflectively. 
“Third and fourth mates usually have to work a 
bit,” he replied. “Yes, I guess ’twon’t ruin ship’s 
discipline if you’re boys most of the time and of- 
ficers when I need you. But don’t get too familiar 
or friendly with the crew.” 

“What in Sam Hill’s the matter now!” exclaimed 
Cap’n Pern a few moments later, when angry 
shouts from Mr. Kemp were heard. 

Following their old friend to the break of the 
deck, the boys saw the second officer shaking his 
fists and yelling at a ragged man who stood before 
him with a vacant, noncomprehending expression 
on his face, and moving and wiggling his fingers 
in a curious manner. 

“What’s the matter, Mr. Kemp?” called the 
captain. 

The second mate turned and glanced up. “It’s 
this greenie, sir,” he replied. “Just up from the 
40 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


foc’sle, an’ jus’ stands here and looks silly, twid- 
dlin’ his thumbs. Don’t answer hack or nothin’ 
and won’t obey orders. Don’t know if it’s some 
new kind of jag or if he’s just plain crazy.” 

‘‘Aye tank he bane daf an’ doomb, sir,” put in 
the cooper, approaching and touching his c*ap. 
“Aye haf daf an’ doomb coosin bane twoggle 
fingers same vay. Mebbe Aye bane able talk mit 
him.” 

“Reckon Ole’s right,” agreed Cap’n Pern. 

“Try it and see, Swanson,” ordered the skipper. 

Standing before the man, the cooper moved his 
big, knotted fingers, and instantly, a look of under- 
standing passed over the other’s features and his 
hands moved swiftly. 

Presently, the Swede turned towards the watch- 
ing officers. “Yas,” he said “he bane daff an’ 
doomb. He say he bane shanghaied. He never 
bane sailor man before.” 

“ ’Spect like enough he was shanghaied,” growled 
Cap’n Pern, “but we can’t help that none. What 
we go in’ fer to do with him, Cap’n? Blow me if 
I ever run afoul o’ a dummy han’ on a whaleship 
afore.” 


41 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


‘‘He can work just as well if he is deaf and 
dumb,” replied Captain Edwards. 

“Yes, but how’n tarnation’s be goin’ fer ter take 
orders?” exploded the old whaleman. “ ’Twouldn’t 
do no harm if ev’ry one o’ the critters was dumb. 
Wish t’ they was. But a deaf han’ ain’t wortli 
nothin’. Dem the shark what shipped him ! ” 

“Swanson,” called the skipper, “take charge of 
this man. You’re the only one can talk to him. 
Teach him what you can and make him work at 
something, sharpening spades and irons, or any- 
thing else.” 

No further incidents of note occurred during the 
day and the following morning the boys came on 
deck to find the Hector out of sight of land and roll- 
ing ma j estically to the long, blue swell of the ocean. 

“Reckon this is a purty good day to begin 
breakin’ in the greenies,” remarked Cap’n Pern at 
breakfast. “Have the starboard boats cleared and 
ready to lower, Mr. Kemp. It’s mighty good 
weather for breakin’ of ’em in to the oars arter 
we’ve had a bit of a set-to with ’em in the riggin’.” 

When they reached the deck, Cap’n Pern had Mr. 
Kemp summon the green men aft, and standing at 
42 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


the break of the poop, he gave them a short ha- 
rangue on what was expected of them. 

The boys felt really sorry for the men, for, with 
few exceptions, all were deathly seasick, and ter- 
ribly frightened at their surroundings. Every time 
the bark rolled, they uttered doleful groans and 
clutched wildly at the nearest backstay or shroud, 
and when the old whaleman ^oke of going aloft 
and the poor fellows glanced up at the soaring, 
lofty mastheads, their faces blanched with terror. 

As Cap’n Pern finished speaking, the second 
mate ordered the men into the rigging. For an 
instant, they stood hesitating, terrified at the mere 
thought of climbing the ratlines rocking back and 
forth to the roll of the bark. But as Mr. Kemp 
started towards them, a rope’s end in one hand and 
a belaying pin in the other, the men fled before him, 
and flattening themselves against the shrouds, 
crawled up for a few feet above the deck. Only 
two went further, the pop-eyed youth who the boys 
had noticed and a huge, gorillalike negro, both of 
whom ran nimbly to the to’gallant crosstrees and 
seated themselves as comfortably as if they had 
been sailors all their lives. 

43 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Only one man had remained on deck, a gray- 
headed old reprobate. ‘‘Here you!” yelled Mr. 
Kemp with an oath, “Get aloft there and be dumed 
quick about it!” 

“Not a bit!” replied the old fellow insolently. 
“ ’Tis none av thim monkey shines Oi’ll be afther 
tryin’, an’ me wid me wooden lig!” 

The second mate, who had started forward with 
belaying pin raised threateningly, stopped short 
and dropped his arm. “Well I’ll be — ,” he began 
and then, turning, he shouted, “Mister Potter, here’s 
another of ’em — first a dummy an’ next a timber- 
leg! Them sharks must have thought we was a 
floatin’ horspittel!” 

“What’s that ye’re sayin’?” shouted old Pern. 
“What’s this erbout a timber leg?” 

“This old cove here,” explained the other, 
“says as how he can’t go aloft cause he’s got a 
wooden leg.” 

Old Pern was fairly bristling. “Sojerin’!” he 
yelled. “Git erloft there, ye ol’ bum!” and then, 
forgetting himself in his excitement, he added, 
“Ye ain’t no more one-legged than I be!’^ 

44 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


‘‘B’gorra Oi’d be hopin’ not,” burst out the other. 
“Faith, an’ Oi’d like to see yez a shinny in’ up thim 
ropes wid a lig like this, ye ould omathon!” 

As he spoke, he drew up his trouser leg and 
exhibited the artificial limb beneath. 

“Sass me back, will ye!” roared the old whale- 
man, purple with rage. “By blastamation, ef ye 
wasn’t a cripple I’d skin ye alive!” 

“Cripple yerself,” shouted back the other. 
“Come down out of that an’ Oi’ll lick the stufiin’ 
out av yez, ye ould shellback!” 

The boys fully expected to see Cap’n Pern dash 
down to the deck and rush at the impudent old 
fellow, but instead, he suddenly doubled up and 
roared with hearty laughter. 

“I’ll be keelhauled!” he cried. “Ef this isn’t 
the dod-gastedest crew what ever sailed on a whale 
ship. Reckon misery loves comp’ny. Two 
timber-legs an’ a dummy! Mr. Kemp, muster 
them hands aft an’ see how many more derelicts 
ye’ve got ermong ’em.” 

Grinning at the comical scene they had just wit- 
nessed, the crew gathered about and the second 
ofiicer went over them one by one, questioning 
45 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


them, pounding them on backs and chests, slapping 
their arms and legs and ordering them to run and 
jump about, while, on the poop, the two boys and 
old Pern, as well as the skipper, stood and watched 
the procedure with amusement. Presently the 
second mate turned. ‘‘Here’s a chap with a glass 
eye,” he announced, indicating a sallow-faced, lit- 
tle man, “but I guess Pothers are all sound.” 

“Reckon so long’s his other eye’s good he don’t 
matter,” said Pern. “Go on with yer men, Mr. 
Kemp an’ put that one-legged oF shamrock to 
deck work till we’re ready fer the boats. Mebbe 
he’ll do fer a shipkeeper anyhow.” 

For several hours, the “greenies” were kept on 
the jump, compelled to climb the rigging to the 
topsail yards, taught the standing and running 
rigging, made to understand what to do when an 
order was given. But while they were, as Cap’n 
Pern had put it, “treated rough,” there was none 
of the real brutality shown which the boys had 
expected from the tales they had heard and read 
of whalers. Indeed, both Tom and Jim agreed 
that Mr. Kemp was wonderfully patient and the 
few blows that were struck did not appear to 
46 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


trouble the tough crew in the least. When Tom 
spoke of this to Captain Edwards the latter re- 
marked that such treatment as they were receiving 
was probably far gentler than anything they had 
ever experienced before. 

Strangely enough too, the active work appeared 
completely to cure the men of seasickness, while 
their first terror of going aloft was rapidly over- 
come, although they still hugged the shrouds and 
held on with might and main whenever the bark 
rolled. 

The boys were much amused at Cap’n Pern, for 
the old whaleman had painted himself as a hard- 
fisted, slave-driving mate when at sea, whereas, 
in reality, he was far easier on the men than the 
second officer, and several times he cautioned the 
latter against using unnecessary violence. 

“This ’ere ain’t no ol’ time whaleship,” he 
cried. “I’ve seed a plenty o’ bulldozin’, bucko 
mates an’ I tell ye ’tain’t no use to smash a man up. 
Might jes’ as well let ’em take their time a’ lamin’ 
as to spend it mendin’ of a busted leg or stove-in 
head. Course, if any of ’em needs it, ye can give 
’em a good lickin’. They gotter know who’s boss, 
47 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


but we don’ want broken bones nor murder.” 

At last, the second mate seemed satisfied with 
what he had accomplished and ordered the top- 
sail backed, and as the bark was hove-to and rested 
motionless on the sea, the two starboard boats were 
lowered and the green hands were ordered into 
them. Even the one-legged Irishman was com- 
pelled to embark, although he protested vigorously. 
With two of the boat steerers in each boat and with 
Mr. Kemp in charge of one and Cap’n Pern in the 
stern of the other, the fun began. Not a man in 
the crowd, with the exception of the boy and the 
big negro, both of whom had evidently served on 
ships before, had ever touched or handled an oar 
in their lives. And when, under the orders of 
the two mates, the fellows attempted to pick up 
and use the heavy ash oars, the result was so 
comical that the two boys burst into peals of 
laughter and even Captain Edwards chuckled. 
Constantly fouling one another’s oars, catching 
crahs, losing their oars overboard and getting in 
one another’s way, the men struggled valiantly and 
apparently thought it a regular lark. Indeed, 
after their terrifying session with the rigging, their 
48 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


instruction in boat handling must have seemed 
mere child’s play, and at each mishap the men 
roared and made fun of each other. Moreover, 
the mates and boat steerers took the matter good- 
naturedly, making biting and sarcastic remarks, 
but patiently striving to teach their men how to row. 
Much to the boys’ surprise, the crowd of human 
derelicts did wonderfully well, and after an hour’s 
work, managed to conquer the oars sufficiently to 
keep fairly good time with their strokes and actu- 
ally to propel the big, thirty-foot whaleboats. 

Very soon the breeze freshened, a choppy sea 
began to rise and the boats were hoisted to the 
big wooden davits, the yards were swung and 
the Hector plunged onward through the deep-blue 
waves towards the distant Azores. 

Thereafter, on every calm day, the boat drill 
was continued, and day after day, the men were 
sent aloft and taught to furl and reef sails, to 
swing the yards, to tail onto braces, sheets and hal- 
liards and to do the thousand and one things 
necessary to the handling of a square-rigged vessel. 
Most of the men learned rapidly, after they had 
once overcome their landsman’s dread of going 
49 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


aloft, and while a few were so utterly lacking in 
intelligence that they couldn’t learn the difference 
between a ‘‘main brace and a belaying pin,” as 
Mr. Kemp put it, yet all learned to handle the 
boats and seemed to take keen enjoyment in this 
part of the work, each boat’s crew constantly 
striving to outdo the other and holding hard fought 
races whenever opportunity offered. Moreover, 
the men had improved vastly in appearance. 
They had grown brown and strong; their muscles 
had developed; they had discarded their dirty 
shore rags for clean dungarees and went about 
lightly and surefootedly on newly acquired “sea 
legs” in their bare feet. From the boat steerers 
and mates, they had learned a number of chanteys 
and whalemen’s songs and whenever any work was 
done, the deep bass of the big negro, Sam, could 
be heard leading the chorus of some old-time, deep 
water chantey. 

A few days after they had dropped land from 
sight, the captain had a man constantly perched on 
the topgallant crosstrees, keenly scanning the 
horizon, and Cap’n Pern explained to the boys 
that they were likely at any time to sight a sperm 
50 


THERE SHE BLOWS! 


whale and that the skipper had no intention of 
letting one slip by. 

‘‘Sparm ’ile’s mighty high,” said the old man, 
‘‘ ’an sperm’ceti’s higher an’ t’ain’t no use a lettin’ 
good dollars slip by. ’Sides, this ere gang’s gotter 
be taught whalin’ an’ the sooner the better.” 

The two boys also took turns at maintaining a 
lookout from the crosstrees, each filled with hopes 
of being the first to sight a whale. But the days 
slipped by, vast beds of yellow “sargassum” or 
‘‘gulf weed” dotted the indigo sea and the bark 
was rapidly approaching the islands and no sign 
of a whale had been seen. 

Then, one day, as Tom swept his eyes about 
the vast circle of restless water, he caught a 
glimpse of a faint, indistinct mist rising a few feet 
above the sea, like the spray from a breaking wave. 
The next moment, a vast, black object lifted for an 
instant in the trough of a sea and, at the 
top of his lungs, Tom shouted: “There she 
blows!” 

Scarcely were the words uttered, when all was 
excitement below and Cap’n Pern’s voice bellowed, 
“Where away?” 


51 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

“About three points on the port bow,” shouted 
Tom. 

Then followed a moment of breathless waiting, 
with all eyes strained in the direction Tom had 
indicated, until once more the tiny column of 
vapor rose in air and the whale’s flukes showed for 
a brief moment before he sounded. 


CHAPTER IV 


A NARROW ESCAPE 

N O sooner had the whale been sighted than 
all was bustle and hurry. Orders rang 
out sharply and rapidly; the men sprang 
to their tasks; the great yards swimg and the bark 
was hove-to; and, in an incredibly short space of 
time, two boats had been lowered and were fairly 
racing across the waves, propelled by the five huge 
oars in each. 

The two boys were woefully disappointed at 
not being allowed in the boats; but they realized 
that they would only be in the way, and that in 
the serious and dangerous attack on the whale, they 
had no place. From their perch on the crosstrees, 
however, they had a splendid view of all that was 
going on, and watched, fascinated, as the boats 
rapidly drew near the whale which was now swim- 
ming lazily along the surface of the sea. Presently, 
the boys saw the Portuguese boat steerer in Cap’n 
53 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Pern’s boat, draw in his oar and step to the bow of 
the boat where, with hair tossing in the wind and 
naked to the waist, he stood with the heavy harpoon, 
or “iron,” poised and ready to strike. To the wait- 
ing boys it seemed as if the boat was about to 
bump into the immense, black bulk of the whale 
which rose, like the bottom of a capsized ship, far 
above the tiny boat. Closer and closer drew the 
little craft, the boys with bated breath watching 
every move and expecting each instant to see 
the iron dart forward and bury itself in the 
monster, when, without warning, the enormous 
flukes rose high in air, the whale disappeared in 
a boil of green and white foam, and with a crash 
that reached the boys’ ears, the mi^ty flukes 
struck the sea and hid the boat in a shower of 
spray. 

“Sounded, by gum!” shouted Captain Edwards 
from the poop. 

“Yah, he bane sound!” echoed the cooper. 
“But aye tank Mr. Potter bane get him yust da 
same.” 

The two boats now rested motionless, waiting 
for the reappearance of the whale, every 
54 


man 


A NARROW ESCAPE 


with bent back ready to give way the instant their 
quarry ‘^breached”; the boat steerers in the bows 
standing like bronze statues, and old Cap’n Pern 
in one boat and the second mate in the other 
grasping their enormous steering oars and peering 
intently ahead. Even before the boys saw the 
faint column of vapor that marked the rising whale, 
they saw the mate’s boat leap forward, and as the 
bulk of the creature’s body broke through the 
water, the iron flashed forward and buried itself in 
the whale’s side. 

‘‘Fast!” yelled the captain. 

Instantly, the boat steerer sprang back, Cap’n 
Pern dropped his oar and scrambled nimbly for- 
ward, the boat steerer seized the oar and took the 
mate’s place and old Cap’n Pern crouched in the 
bow. 

Then commenced such an exciting scene as the 
boys had never dreamed of. Hardly had the 
two men changed places in the boat when the whale 
threw himself bodily from the sea, a veritable 
giant of a creature, snapping his enormous 
jaws together as he did so, and the next second he 
was off like an express train, while behind him, 
55 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


the frail boat tore through the sea in a cloud 
of foam as it was hurtled by the terrified mountain 
of flesh to which it was fast. Straight away the 
huge creature sped, until the boat was a mere 
speck upon the horizon. 

“Keep ’em in sight, lads! Keep ’em in sight!” 
yelled Captain Edwards, and leaping to the 
shrouds, he climbed quickly aloft and stood beside 
them on the crosstrees. 

“Sounded again!” he exclaimed presently, and 
then, “headin’ this way!” Rapidly now the boat 
increased in size with the threshing flukes of the 
cetacean now and then visible, and headed ap- 
parently directly for the Hector. 

As he approached the other whaleboat, the men 
bent to their oars, the craft leaped towards the 
stricken whale and as he rushed by, within a score 
of feet another iron was hurled and with both 
boats fast the whale sped on. But the second iron 
from Mr. Kemp’s boat had turned him in his 
mad course and he tore past the stem of the Hector 
within fifty feet — so close, in fact, that the boys 
could see the expressions on the men’s faces, could 
see the gear within the boats and caught the sound 
56 


A NARROW ESCAPE 


of Cap’n Pern’s shout as the gallant old whaleman 
waved a hand and yelled up to them. 

“Demed near rammed us!” exclaimed the skip- 
per. “Would have if Kemp hadn’t struck and 
turned him!” 

Scarcely had he spoken when, so suddenly that 
the two boats overran the spot where he had been 
an instant before, the whale sounded and as the 
line rushed out through the bow-chock until it 
smoked, the tub-oarsmen doused it with water and 
Cap’n Pern and the second mate seized the ever- 
ready hatchets and held them poised to cut the 
lines in case of need. Everything now was taking 
place close to the ship and the watchers on the 
crosstrees seemed to look directly down into the 
two boats. Fathom after fathom of the line 
whirred over the boat’s bows as the whale dived 
straight for the ocean bottom and it seemed as if 
the whole three hundred fathoms in each boat 
would be exhausted ere the creature ceased sound- 
ing. 

Then, to the watchers’ ears, came Cap’n Pern’s 
shout of “haul line!” and rapidly as hands could 
work, the dripping hemp was drawn in and coiled 
57 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


in its tub, and the boys, realizing the whale was 
coming up, watched breathlessly for his appear- 
ance. Suddenly he breached so close to the ship 
that, as he spouted, the spray drifted across the 
bark’s decks and the vessel rolled to the wave he 
created as he reared his gigantic head far above 
the sea and brought it crashing down. Then for 
a space, he lay quiet, and silently and cautiously 
the mate’s boat drew closer and closer to the 
monster and the boys held their breath as they 
saw Cap’n Pern grasp the long, keen lance and they 
realized that the old whaleman, disdaining new- 
fangled methods, planned to kill the whale by the 
old-fashioned lance which must actually be shoved 
into the animal’s side. 

“Dem him!” whispered the captain. “Why 
don’t the old fool use the bomb lance? Does he 
want to be stove?” 

Now the frail boat was within a few feet of the 
wounded whale. Cap’n Pern straightened up, 
grasped the lance firmly, braced himself, leaned 
slightly forward and, with a sudden lurch and a 
grunt which was audible to those on the bark, he 
drove the long-bladed lance deep into the crea- 
58 


A NARROW ESCAPE 

ture’s side. Instantly, with a sweep of the oars, 
the boat darted hack, and not a second too soon. 
Lashing the waves into a churning, boiling, seeth- 
ing mass of froth and foam, spouting blood which 
reddened the sea, lifting his great flukes and 
smashing them down in thunderous crashes, rear- 
ing his stupendous head and dropping it like a 
falling house, snapping, biting, sweeping to right 
and left with his immense jaw with its row of 
gleaming teeth, the whale went into his death 
flurry. Dodging the sweeps of his flukes, escaping 
by a hair’s breadth the terrible jaws, tossed about 
like chips on the crimson waves raised by the 
writhing titan beside them, the boats’ crews strove 
like madmen to preserve their lives and boats, 
while the skipper shouted and screamed from the 
crosstrees. The boys’ hearts beat like trip- 
hammers and the men on deck yelled in excite- 
ment. Then, with a final, convulsive shudder, the 
gigantic creature rolled over and lay still. From 
the boat came the glad, triumphant cry of “Fin 
out!” the whale was dead. Grabbing his old cap 
from his head, Cap’n Pern looked up and waved 
it towards the captain and the boys in the cross- 
59 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


trees, his features flushed with excitement and 
victory, a broad grin on his face. 

‘‘Reckon I ain’t fergot how ter kill a whale, eh, 
boys!” he shouted. “Ain’t had so much sport fer 
twenty year!” 

The excitement was now over, and climbing 
down from their lofty perdi, the boys went to 
the bark’s starboard rail and watched the process 
of getting the dead whale alongside. Quickly and 
deftly the two boats’ crews worked, getting a chain 
around the dead whale’s flukes, while, aboard the 
bark, spades and blubber hooks, hoisting tackle, 
cutting tackle and the other appliances for cutting 
in the whale were being made ready. The car- 
penter and his assistants were busy rigging the 
cutting stage to be slung under the ship’s gangway. 
The huge kettles for boiling the blubber were 
brought out, shavings and wood were placed in the 
try works ready for firing, and by the time the 
carcass of the whale was alongside, everything 
was in readiness for cutting in the blubber. Leap- 
ing onto the whale, one of the boat steerers quickly 
cut a hole in the blubber between the whale’s eye 
and his fin and in this, inserted a huge, iron hook 
60 


A NARROW ESCAPE 


attached to a tackle which led up to the mast. 
Then, standing upon the cutting stage, the men, 
armed with their long-handled spades, prepared 
to start the work. At this moment, the deaf mute, 
who had been sent aloft to clear the tackle, came 
down the shrouds with a rush, and unceremoni- 
ously yanking the busy Swanson from his work, 
whirled him about and began gesticulating wildly. 

“Hi there!” yelled Cap’n Pern. “Get that dumb 
fool outer here. What’s he a thinkin’ on?” 

“Yaas, sir,” replied the big Swede. “He say 
dere bane whale yust off der quvarter.” 

“He does!” exclaimed the mate. “Run aloft, 
Mr. Kemp, an’ see if he knows what he’s a talkin’ 
erbout.” 

Reaching the crosstrees, the second officer 
glanced rapidly around and the next instant his 
startled shout caused every one to drop work and 
tools and scramble to the decks. 

“Whale!” screamed Mr. Kemp. “It’s a German 
sub!” 

With anxious faces the crew scrambled up the 
rigging, striving to get a glimpse of the U-boat 
while the boys and Cap’n Pern rushed to the after 
61 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


deck where Captain Edwards already stood, search- 
ing the sea with his glasses. 

For a space the boys could see nothing and 
then Jim’s sharp eyes caught the slender periscope 
of the underseas boat and the tiny trail of white 
behind it. 

“There ’tis, Tom! Look! Just beside that big 
patch of weed!” he cried. 

“Dern their dirty hides!” exclaimed old Pern. 
“Fetch me a bomb lance, boys. I’ll show 
’em!” 

“No!” commanded the captain, “we can do 
nothing. Possibly they may spare us if they see 
we are a whaleship and have no oil aboard. Get 
the other boats over, Mr. Potter. If we’re sunk 
we have enough boats to save all hands, thank 
Heaven.” 

Turning, the mate bawled the orders to the crew, 
and, badly frightened as they were, and realizing 
their helplessness, the men flew about the work of 
getting more boats in the water. Meanwhile, the 
submarine had gradually emerged from the water 
and now floated with her deck awash, and her 
conning tower and superstructure well above the 
62 


A NARROW ESCAPE 


sea. Presently, from a hatchway, a uniformed 
figure appeared, stared at the Hector through his 
glasses for a space and raised a megaphone to his 
lips. Then, thin but clear across the intervening 
sea, the anxious watchers on the bark heard the 
fateful words, “Take to your poats! We’re apout 
to sink dot shib!” 

Panic-stricken, the crew rushed to the waiting 
whaleboats and commenced to pile into them, the 
Portuguese and negroes leading, and all fighting 
and striking in a mad attempt to be first to reach 
a place of safety, for, while fearless in attacking 
the giants of the seas and cheerfully facing death 
a dozen times a day in the pursuit of their calling, 
yet these men were terrified out of all reason at 
the thought of being blown to atoms by a torpedo. 
There were more than enough boats for all, but like 
frightened sheep, the men all dashed for one boat. 
Hurrying to the deck, the captain and mates strove 
to restore order, shouting, and threatening, but all 
to no avail. The men were insane with terror. 
And then, suddenly, a wild figure sprang among 
them, gray hair flying, eyes blazing, a boarding- 
knife in one hand, a heavy iron bar in the other. 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


It was the one-legged Irishman, and before his 
impetuous onslaught the crowd fell back. 

“Wan at a toime, ye spalpeens!” he screeched. 
“Take it aisy now! B’gorra ye’re a foine bunch! 
Shure there’s enough boats an’ to sphare! Tumble 
into thim in order now — six in aich, mind ye, an’ 
Oi’ll shtick the furst thot rushes! Howly St. Path- 
rick, but it’s foine cowards, yez arre! Shure ’tis 
no sinse ye have; at all, at all!” 

Presently the boats were manned, the doughty 
little Irishman clambered into one with the two 
boys and Cap’n Pern at his heels. Mr. Kemp took 
his place in another and Captain Edwards, last to 
leave the bark, leaped into the third as painters 
were cast loose and the men bent to their oars. 
Scarcely had they taken a dozen strokes from the 
doomed ship when there was a deafening explosion. 
An upleaping mountain of water enveloped the 
Hector, and the next moment the boats were almost 
swamped in a descending avalanche of water, 
blood, flesh and blubber. 

Frightened, dazed, choking and spluttering the 
boys looked about. Rocking to the force of the 
explosion, with water pouring in cataracts from her 
64 


A NARROW ESCAPE 


scuppers, but apparently unhurt, the bark towered 
above the sea. 

‘‘Well I’ll be — began Cap’n Pem, but his 
words were cut in twain by a shout from Mr. Kemp. 

“Destroyer a-comin’!” he yelled. 

Instantly, all eyes were turned from the bark to 
where, half -hidden by the great bow-wave thrown 
up by her passage, and with black smoke belching 
from her four funnels, a lean, gray destroyer came 
tearing through the sea. Leaping to their feet, 
tossing hats in air, waving their ponderous oars, 
the men cheered wildly and then, realizing that 
the Hector was still afloat and that all danger 
from the submarine was over, they swung their 
craft about and pulled madly back to their ship. 
Even before they had gairjed the bark’s side they 
were tossing on the wake of the rushing destroyer, 
and, in rapid succession, came the heavy detona- 
tions of her depth-bombs. 

Clambering over the Hectofs side, the boys and 
men gazed about in amazement, for the moment 
utterly at a loss to understand by what miracle the 
ship was still afloat. Then, rushing to the gang- 
way, old Cap’n Pem gave one glance over the side 
65 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


and let out a lusty shout. “Well, Fll be Mowed!” 
he yelled. “Fll everlastinTy be keelhauled! 
Demed if that critter didn’t save the ship! They 
jes’ Mowed the whale to smithereens!” 

Every one hurried to his side and peered over. 
It was perfectly true. The torpedo had struck the 
whale, blowing it into a thousand fragments, scat- 
tering blubber, flesh and blood over decks, sails 
and sea, but leaving the bark uninjured. The 
mountain of meat and bone had saved the ship! 
As they stood speechless, awed into silence by the 
miraculous escape of the bark, no one noticed the 
destroyer, which had drawn near, until a hail from 
her bridge reached their ears. 

“Bark ahoy!” shouted an officer. “Shall we 
stand by? Are you badly injured?” 

Captain Edwards cupped his hands and was 
about to reply, but before he could speak old Pern 
sprang onto the rail, and grasping a backstay with 
one hand shook his fist at the spot where he had 
last seen the submarine. “No!” he roared. “No, 
by heck! We ain’t hurt none, but them sneakin’ 
thieves jes’ robbed us out o’ a hund’ed bar’ls o’ 
’ile!” 


66 


A NARROW ESCAPE 


The tension was broken, every one roared with 
laughter and even the destroyer’s ofiScers shook with 
mirth at the old whaleman’s words. 

“Did you get the sub?” shouted Captain Ed- 
wards when the merriment subsided. 

“Can’t be sure,” came back the answer. “There’s 
so darned much whale oil on the water, there’s no 
way to tell. The sea’s slicked with grease for half 
a mile round. Want us to convoy you to Fayal?” 

“Guess not,” yelled back the skipper. “Reckon 
you scared ’em off if you didn’t get ’em. Guess 
we’ll risk it.” 

“All right, then,” replied the other. “Better not 
loaf about after whales, though. Two or three 
subs about and you’re easy game hove-to. Good 
luck!’’ 

A moment later, the destroyer was tearing to- 
wards the west, and by the time the Hectares yards 
were squared and she was once more on her course, 
a mere smudge on the horizon was all that marked 
the little craft which had arrived on the scene in 
the nick of time. 


CHAPTER V 


STRANGE VISITORS 

F our days after their exciting experience 
with the U-boat the boys saw the hazy 
blue mountains of the Azores looming 
above the horizon, and all through the day they 
watched with intense interest as the beautiful pano- 
rama of the islands was spread before them. But 
the winds were light and baffling in the lee of the 
land, and it was daylight the next morning when, 
at last, the bark dropped anchor in the harbor of 
Fayal. Here, Captain Edwards was to take on 
fresh vegetables and fruits, and he hoped also to 
obtain additional men, for while he had enough 
for ordinary whaling it was his intention to land 
parties on several of the far southern islands and 
to have enough to insure a large catch of sea 
elephants and a full cargo of oil as quickly as 
possible, in order that he might return to New 
Bedford while the high price of oil still prevailed. 
As the bark was to be in port several days, the 
68 


STRANGE VISITORS 


two boys had a splendid opportunity to see the 
town and the island, and as soon as the port for- 
malities were over, they were pulled ashore in one 
of the boats with Cap’n Pern accompanying them. 

It took some little time for Tom and Jim to 
become accustomed to the feeling of solid ground 
under their feet once more, and both were highly 
amused at the strange sensations they underwent 
as they walked up the quaint, old street leading 
from the quay. After many days of constantly 
pitching and rolling decks, which had become so 
familiar to them that they seemed perfectly natural 
and steady, the two boys were surprised to find 
that the street appeared to roll and toss, and they 
staggered along like drunken men. Cap’n Pern 
remarked that they had not got their “land legs” 
yet and he vowed that many a time, after a long 
voyage, he had been deathly “land-sick” when he 
first went ashore. 

The picturesque town, with its old world build- 
ings, narrow, steep streets, jutting balconies and 
brilliant color, fascinated the boys who had never 
before been away from the States, and they grew 
wildly excited over the feathery, waving palms, 
69 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

the luscious tropical fruits and the many strange 
sights which greeted them at every turn. Cap’n 
Pern, who had visited the islands many times, 
showed them all the sights about the town and 
took them on a long jaunt through the lovely 
island with its neatly kept fruit orchards and 
gardens, its lofty green mountains, its tumbling 
cataracts and its rich valleys. Then, at last, the 
time came to leave, and with a dozen more men 
added to the crew and with an abundance of fresh 
fruits and vegetables, live poultry and sheep and 
with every available cask filled with fresh, spring 
water, the Hectares anchor was weighed, the great 
white sails were spread and the bark quickly 
dropped Fayal astern. 

Heeling to the fresh trade wind, with every sail 
set, with a smother of foam sweeping past her lee 
rail and a turquoise wake stretching far astern, the 
gallant old ship plunged southward, burying her 
staunch, bluff bows to the catheads in the blue sea, 
shaking tons of water from her streaming decks as 
she lifted to the long Atlantic rollers; every sheet, 
brace and sail straining and her taut rigging 
humming like harp strings. 

70 


STRANGE VISITORS 

‘‘Like ter see one o’ them demed submarines 
cotch us now!” chuckled old Pern, as the boys, 
fascinated by the sight, gazed alternately at the 
great pyramids of canvas and the swiftly passing 
foam to leeward. 

“What’s she making!” asked Tom. 

The old whaleman glanced aloft and then astern. 
“Reckon ’bout ten knots,” he replied. 

“And a sub can make over twenty,” laughed 
Jim. “I hope we don’t see one.” 

“Wall, o’ course I ’spose they could cotch us,” 
admitted old Pern, “but I’ll be blowed if I don’t 
wisht I’d tried a bomb lance on that there chap 
back there. Bet I could a-f etched him! Reckon 
them boats ain’t no tougher than a bull sparm 
whale.” 

“Next time we see one we’ll ask Captain Ed- 
wards to lower a boat and let you tackle it with 
an iron and a lance,” laughed Tom, “but I’ll bet 
you won’t get a boat’s crew to go with you.” 

“Jes’ the same,” argued the old whaleman, “ye 
got ter admit I saved the ship. Ef I hadn’t a 
killed that there whale an’ got him ’longside 
where’d we been, eh?” 


71 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Captain Edwards, who had approached unseen, 
laughed. expect one-legged Mike would claim 
he saved us,” he remarked. “At any rate, he 
showed the stuff that’s in him and that he can 
handle men. I’m going to make him bo’sun.” 

Cap’n Pern scratched his head. “Demed if I 
ever heard tell o’ a one-legged bo’sun,” he declared. 
“Jes’ the same, I never heard tell o’ a peg-legged 
mate afore, neither. Reckon ye might as well 
keep it up. Sort o’ got the habit I reckon.” 

Day after day, the wind held steady and the bark 
tore on under full sail with never a hand laid to 
sheet, brace or tackle, and day after day, the 
drilling of the men continued, until it seemed to 
the boys that there could be nothing more for them 
to learn. They had been taught the running and 
standing rigging; they had been forced aloft until 
all but one or two could straddle the royal yards 
or cling to the swaying, heaving footropes “with 
their toe nails” as Mr. Kemp put it; and when all 
this had been mastered, they were kept busy at 
splicing, making chafing-gear, serving and parcel- 
ling, taring down and a thousand and one other 
jobs on deck. And in this work, the wooden- 
72 


STRANGE VISITORS 


legged bo’sim, Mike, proved himself invaluable. 
For while he could not go aloft, yet, he seemed 
to know everything else about a ship even better 
than old Pern himself. Then one day, the truth 
came out, and while talking with the boys, for 
whom he had developed a great fondness, he 
divulged the fact that for many years he had 
served in the navy, and that he had lost his leg 
in the battle of Manila on Admiral Dewey’s flag- 
ship. 

“Knowed he was a sailor man all the time,” 
declared Cap’n Pern when the boys told him the 
news. “Couldn’t fool me! Jes’ as soon’s I seed 
him grab a han’ spike, I knowed it.” 

“Well, what’s dumb Pete?” laughed Jim, “and 
one-eyed Ned? I suppose you’ll say you knew 
they were sailors, tool” 

“Nope,” chuckled the old whaleman, “never will 
be. Dunno what Pete wuz, but he’s a fust class 
blacksmith now. Reckon Ned wuz a sojer.” 

Several times, whales were sighted and boats 
were lowered in chase, for the Hector was out of 
the track of regular trade and the captain had little 
fear of meeting hostile U-boats, but luck seemed 
73 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

to be against the whalemen and no catch was 
made. 

“Ain’t a mite s’prised ’ile’s so high,” declared 
Cap’n Pern. “Never did see sparm whales so 
skittish — git gallied soon’s we lower away. 
Reckon they’re skeered o’ the war.” 

“Been shot at too much,” vouchsafed Mr. Kemp. 
“Every chaser an’ destroyer that sighted a whale 
took pot shots at ’em, thinkin’ they might be subs.” 

But whatever the reason, the whales proved so 
universally shy that at last the skipper vowed he’d 
not lower for another, even if it scratched its back 
against the bark’s planking, and gave all bis at- 
tention to hurrying towards his distant goal. 

The Cape Verde Islands had been left far astern, 
the bark for several days had been drifting almost 
motionless upon a polished, oil-like sea with idle 
sails flapping and tackles creaking as the ship 
rolled to an invisible swell, and the boys’ observa- 
tions told them they were nearing the equator. 
Then one morning, they noticed that something 
mysterious was going on among the crew. They 
gathered in little knots and conversed in low tones 
and more than once the men approached Mr. Kemp, 
74 


STRANGE VISITORS 


or the one-legged bo’sun, and after a few words, 
went away grinning. 

“What are the men up to?” Tom asked their old 
friend, Cap’n Pern. “If they weren’t so good- 
natured and didn’t talk to Mr. Kemp and old Mike 
I’d think they were planning a mutiny.” 

The old whaleman chuckled. “Don’t ye go 
askin’ too many questions,” he replied. “Reckon 
ye’ll know long ’bout day arter to-morrer.” And 
despite teasing and questioning, the old man re- 
fused to say anything more. The boys then turned 
their attention to the bo’sun and Mr. Kemp, but 
with no better results, and every time they started 
to go forward Cap’n Pern or the second mate 
found some reason for calling them aft. 

They were still wondering about it, and watching 
the crew from the break of the after deck, two 
days later, when muffled cries and grunts were 
heard and the crew rushed forward and peered 
over the rail. The next moment, a weird figure 
appeared clambering up the bark’s side as if he 
had just emerged from the sea. A long, tow- 
colored beard descended to his waist, his long hair 
fell over his shoulders, his blue togalike gown was 
75 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


dripping water and covered with bits of sea- 
weed, while upon his head was a golden crown and 
in one hand he held a three-pronged spear. 

‘‘Gosh!” exclaimed Jim. “Who on earth is 
that?” 

“Demed if ’tain’t old Father Neptune hisself 1” 
cried Cap’n Pern who stood near. “Reckon he’s 
come aboard ter ’nitiate ev’ry one what’s never 
crossed the line afore.” 

Following close at Neptune’s heels came two 
other figures, one, a huge black man bearing an 
immense wooden razor, the other dressed as a 
woman wearing a crown and carrying a trident. 
Surrounded by the crew Neptune approached the 
after deck, where Captain Edwards had now joined 
the boys and the mates, and addressing the skipper, 
declared that he had come aboard to initiate those 
who never before had crossed the equator, and 
asked the captain’s permission to proceed with the 
ceremony. While he was speaking, a number of 
men had appeared, all dressed in grotesque 
costumes, and had placed a huge tub of water, a 
chair and a pail on the deck. Immediately the fun 
began. Seizing one of those who stood nearest. 


STRANGE VISITORS 


two of Neptune’s retinue dragged him to the chair 
and held him firmly in place despite his struggles, 
while a third liberally plastered his face with 
the thick flour paste from the pail. Then the negro 
with the razor stepped forward and with slashing 
strokes, “shaved” the protesting initiate, where- 
upon his chair was abruptly tipped up and he 
was tumbled headlong into the tub of water. 

Every one roared with laughter, in which the 
spluttering victim joined, and Neptune’s assistants 
started for the next man. But the crew were now 
prepared and ran and dodged about the decks and 
up the rigging until one slipped and fell, to be 
immediately poimced upon and carried to the 
“barber.” With all their attention centered on the 
comical sight and almost choking with laughter, the 
boys had failed to notice two men who had 
stealthily approached, until they were suddenly 
grabbed, and with loud shouts of glee from their 
captors, were carried to the deck. 

They had already noticed that those who pro- 
tested and struggled the most received the greatest 
attention from the barber and so, wisely deciding 
to make the best of it and take their turns good 
77 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


naturedly, they submitted without resistance. 
Partly owing to this, and partly to the fact that they 
were mere boys and belonged aft, they were treated 
to a mere dab of the paste brush and a single 
stroke of the razor and were carefully ducked only 
to their ears in the tub. 

As nearly all members of the crew were 
‘‘greeniesi” who had never been to sea before, it 
took several hours to capture and initiate all, but 
at last it was over and Neptune’s “daughter” 
handed each one a card bearing the name of the 
bark and the date, and certifying that the holder 
had been duly initiated and enrolled by Father 
Neptune. 

Captain Edwards then ordered refreshments 
served all around, the decks were cleared, and 
throughout the day, the men frolicked and sky- 
larked to their hearts’ content while those on the 
after-deck roared with laughter at their antics or 
applauded vigorously as some one started a chantey 
or a whaleman’s song to the music of a violin and 
a concertina with all hands joining in the chorus. 
The boys vowed it was as good as any vaudeville 
show they had ever seen. Even Captain Edwards 
78 


STRANGE VISITORS 


dropped his accustomed dignity and gravity to join 
in the hilarity, and calling to the mate, cried out, 
‘‘Give ’em a real good whaleman’s song, Pern. 
Fun’s over at eight bells and it’s pretty near that 
now.” 

“Blowed ef I will,” replied Cap’n Pern. “Ain’t 
sang a derned word fer years. Give ’em one yer- 
self. Hen.” 

“All right. Pern,” laughed the skipper, “I’ll give 
’em one if you’ll give ’em another. That’s fair. 
Go ahead. Pern, yours first.” 

“Wall,” muttered the old whaleman, “reckon ef 
the Cap’n tells me to. I’ve gotter do it.” Walking 
to the break of the deck, he raised his hand, 
cleared his throat and commenced to roar out the 
words of a famous old whaling song. Instantly 
the men were hushed and motionless, listening to 
his deep, bass voice as he sang: 

Come, all ye bold seamen who are cruising for sparm. 
Come, all ye jolly, bold seamen that have rounded 
Cape Horn, 

For our cap’n has told us, an’ we hope he says true, 
That there’s plenty o’ sparm whales on the coast o’ 
Peru. 


79 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


The first whale that we raised, it was late in the day, 
Which caused our bol’ cap’n these kind words to say, 
“Get ye down to your hammocks an’ there quietly lay. 
We’ll raise him in the mornin’ at break o’ the day.” 

’Twas early next momin’ just as the sun rose, 

That a man at the masthead sung out, ‘Thar she blows!’ 
“Where away?” shouts the skipper, an’ the answer 
from aloft, 

“Three p’ints on the lee bow an’ ’bout three mile off.” 

“Then call up all ban’s and be o’ good cheer. 

Get your lines in your boats an’ your tackle-falls clear. 
Hoist an’ swing fore and aft, stan’ by each boat’s crew. 
Lower away, lower away, when the mainyard swings to.” 

Now the cap’n is fast an’ the whale has gone down. 
An’ the chief mate lies waitin’ his line to bend on. 
Now the whale has come up, like a log he did lay. 

It can never be said that he gave us fair play. 

Amid the uproarious applause that followed, Cap’n 
Pern beat a hasty retreat and the Captain rose and 
stepped forward. 

‘‘My turn now, boys,” he shouted, “and then the 
fun’s over,” and with his words ringing far across 
the silent tropic sea, he sang: 

80 


STRANGE VISITORS 


’Twas a love of adventure and a longing for gold, 

And a hardened desire to roam, 

Tempted me far away o’er the watery world. 

Far away from my kindred and home. 

With a storm-beaten cap’n so fearless and bold, 

And a score of brave fellows or two, 

Far away to the hardships, the hunger and cold. 

Sailed this fearless and jovial crew. 

Have you ever cruised on Diego’s bold shores. 

That are washed by the Antarctic wave? 

Where the white-plumed albatross merrily soars 
O’er many a poor* whaler’s grave? 

Did you ever hear tell of that mighty sperm whale, 
That when boldly attacked in his lair. 

With one sweep of his mighty and ponderous tail 
Sends the whaleboat so high in the air? 

Did you ever join in those heart- wringing cheers. 
With your face turned towards Heaven’s blue dome 
As laden with riches you purchasjed so dear 
You hoisted your topsails, — bound home? 

Deafening were the hand clappings and shouts 
of approval that followed, and then, as the eight 
81 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


silvery notes of the bell pealed out across the waves 
the one-legged bo’sun leaped forward. 

“Three cheers for the foinest cap’n phwat iver 
sailed a whaleship!” he cried. Rousing were the 
huzzas that followed, and once again the Irishman 
raised his voice. “An’ three more for our fri’nd 
Misther Potter phwat saved the barrk — a foine, 
brave whaleman aven if he has a wooden lig! An’ 
three toimes three fer Misther Kemp, phwat makes 
ye into foine sailor min — aiven if he bates the loife 
out o’ yez to do it. An’ three more for thim b’yes 
— the foine thurrd an’ fourth mates!” 

“And now, men, three times three for the Hector, 
a full cargo and a short voyage!” cried the skipper, 
as the lusty cheers died down. And never were 
more heartfelt hurrahs heard upon a whaler than 
those which responded to his words. 


CHAPTER VI 


AN ISLAND QUITE OUT OF THE WORLD 

A pparently Father Neptune was anx- 
ious to show his appreciation of the wel- 
come he had received on the Hector, for 
the day after his appearance, a light breeze sprang 
up. Taking advantage of every catspaw, under 
a perfect cloud of canvas and with stunsails set, 
the bark slipped through the calm sea and out of 
the doldrums into the southern trade winds. 
Then, once more, she bowled along on her long run 
to Tristan da Cunha, her next stop. Although the 
boys had left New Bedford in the autumn, they 
now found that it was spring south of the equator 
and the captain explained to them that he hoped 
to reach the South Shetlands in time to fill up with 
oil during the short Antarctic summer, and leave 
for the north before winter set in. 

The days passed by uneventfully, but ever with 
something new or unusual to interest the two boys. 
Daily they saw strange birds; long-tailed white 
83 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“bo’sun” birds, boobies and “Mother Carey’s 
chickens” and many another. Cap’n Pern told 
them that the “bo’suns” were unlucky and if one 
alighted on the ship it meant a death aboard, but 
that the Mother Carey’s chickens were good omens. 

“Stormy petrels, some calls ’em,” said the old 
whaleman. “Ye can’t git a sailor ter hurt ’em 
fer love o’ money, but I reckon ef ye’d like ter 
see one of ’em dost to, ’twon’t do no harm fer me 
ter ketch some o’ the chicks an’ let ’em go again.” 

“Catch them!” exclaimed Tom. “How can you 
catch one of those birds?” 

“Easy as is,” replied Pern. “Jes’ run down an’ 
fetch me up a reel o’ black thread an’ a couple 
o’ ol’ corks an I’ll show ye.” 

Tying each cork to a piece of thread, the old 
whaleman cast them over the stem and let out 
about a hundred feet of thread to each of the corks 
dancing in the bark’s wake where the petrels were 
flitting constantly back and forth. Scarcely had 
he done so, before one of the birds became en- 
tangled in a thread and, at its shrill cries of alarm, 
its comrades hurried towards it and in a moment 
several of the birds were hopelessly entangled. 
84 


AN ISLAND 


Rapidly pulling in the threads, the old man placed 
the frightened but unhurt birds upon the deck. 

“There ye be,” he chuckled as he disengaged 
the thread from their wings and legs. “New kind 
o’ fishin’, eh?” 

“It’s the funniest way of catching birds I ever 
saw,” declared Tom. “Oh, look out! They’ll 
get away!” 

“Don’ worry ’bout that,” laughed Cap’n Pern. 
“The chicks can’t fly offen a level deck, ’ceptin’ 
they get a start by rollin’. Legs is too weak ter 
hoi’ ’em up.” 

Much to the boys’ surprise, they found that 
this was a fact, and that the petrels were practically 
helpless on the deck until the ship lurched or rolled 
and gave them an opportunity to rise. The birds 
seemed very tame and unsuspicious and greedily 
snapped up and devoured bits of food offered them. 
After playing with them for a time, the boys tossed 
them into the air and, an instant later, they were 
flitting back and forth with their fellows as if noth- 
ing had happened. 

The next day, the boys were preparing to take 
their observations when an exclamation from the 
85 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


helmsman caused them to look up just in time to 
see one of the long-tailed ‘‘bo’sun birds” fluttering 
about the mizzen crosstrees as if about to alight. 

‘‘Eet mean some one he die!” exclaimed the 
Portuguese at the wheel. Taking one hand from 
the wheel he hastily crossed himself. 

“Shet up, you!” exploded Cap’n Pern, and then, 
anxiously, “Mebbe ’twon’t light. Bad luck if 
he does, dem him!” 

By now, every one on the ship was watching the 
hovering bird; the greenies, curiously; the seamen, 
with fear expressed on their faces, while even 
Captain Edwards looked more troubled and serious 
than the boys had ever before seen him. 

The eyes of the big negro sailor rolled wildly; 
the pop-eyed boy’s eyes seemed about to burst 
from his head; the Irishman, Mike, was nervously 
hitching up his trousers and frowning at the beauti- 
ful bird and the Swedish carpenter was holding 
his crossed fingers in air as if invoking a charm. 
Net a word was spoken as every eye was fixed upon 
the innocent creature seeking a spot to rest and 
when, an instant later, it settled gently upon a rat- 
line and commenced to preen its snowy feathers, 
86 


AN ISLAND 

a great sigh rose in unison from a score of hairy 
throats. 

‘‘Bad luck for us!” ejaculated Cap’n Pern de- 
cisively. “Never knowed it to fail!” 

“Mebbe nothin’ more’n bad weather,” com- 
mented Mr. Kemp optimistically. 

Captain Edwards shook his head and said noth- 
ing, while, on deck, the crew conversed in hushed 
but earnest tones and glanced apprehensively 
at the resting bird. Then, as the boys resumed 
their interrupted observations and the eight strokes 
of the bell pealed out, the bird lifted its white 
wings, soared from its perch and was soon out of 
sight. 

“Wusser an’ wusser!” prophesied Cap’n Pern 
lugubriously. “Bet ye we don’t get no ’ile or a man 
goes overboard or suthin’ serious happens. Lef’ 
at eight bells too — that’s the time it’s goin’ ter 
happen! Reckon I oughn’t a cotched them chicks 
yisterday!” 

“Oh, come, Cap’n Pern!” laughed Tom. “You 
don’t really believe that, do you?” 

The old whaleman looked at him a moment 
frowning. 


87 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“Course I does!” he snorted. “Ask Mike or 
any o’ the crew!” Still muttering he stumped off. 
In a few hours, however, the incident seemed to 
have been forgotten and no one mentioned it again. 

A few days later, the boys saw a school of huge 
black and white creatures with enormous fins upon 
their backs which they thought were some sort of 
whale. 

“Killers,” said Mr. Kemp, when the boys 
pointed them out. “Kind of a po’poise, or 
grampus or whale, I dunno which, and jes’ about 
the all-firedest savage critters there is. I’ve seed 
’em tackle a bull whale an’ tear him all to bits 
right afore my eyes. That’s why we call ’em 
killers, — ’cause they kill an’ eat whales.” 

But despite a sharp lookout that was maintained, 
no whales were sighted and the bark kept steadily 
on her course. Then, one day, the boys saw an 
enormous white bird sailing towards them close 
to the surface of the sea. It was the first alba- 
tross, and with fascinated eyes the boys watched 
it, as with motionless wings, fully ten feet from 
tip to tip, the beautiful creature sailed along in 
the bark’s wake, skimming the crests of the waves, 
88 


AN ISLAND 


swinging to right and left, dipping down to pick 
up some bit of offal thrown overboard; now rising 
until it was a mere speck in the sky, anon speeding 
ahead of the rushing ship as easily as though she 
were standing still and then dropping astern again 
to take up its wonted place. Every morning the 
bird was there. Long after darkness fell, the boys 
could see its ghostly white form against the heav- 
ing, black sea, and they wondered if it slept on 
the wing or ever slept at all. Then another ap- 
peared, and another and another, until a score or 
more of the wonderful creatures were constantly 
in sight. And then, at last, a dim, hazy-blue shape 
loomed like a cloud upon the horizon above the 
heaving sea and the boys looked upon the strange, 
unfrequented islands of Tristan da Cunha. 

Rapidly the islands took form and shape as, 
under her press of canvas, the bark drove onward. 
Up from the restless waves rose three vast pyra- 
mids, their summits hidden in low-hung, threaten- 
ing clouds, while below, stretched gray-green slopes 
and rugged hills, cut with black gorges and ravines 
and fringed with beating, high-flung surf. 

“My, but that’s a wild-looking place!” exclaimed 

89 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Tom. “Is there a town there, Captain Edwards?” 

“No real town,” replied the skipper, “but a 
number of people, about one hundred and fifty, I 
suppose, and mighty nice folk, too. It’s a remark- 
able island, boys, and the most remarkable thing 
about it are its inhabitants. They are mostly de- 
scendants. of British soldiers who were stationed on 
the island when Napoleon was a captive on St. 
Helena. Tristan’s just about half way ’twixt St. 
Helena and South America and the Britishers were 
a bit afraid some one might try to rescue Napoleon, 
so they placed a garrison over here on Tristan. 
You may think it’s a mighty poor-looking spot, but 
the Tommies grew so fond of it, they wouldn’t 
leave and settled down and their descendants have 
been here ever since. Funny thing, too, mighty 
few of ’em ever leave to live an)rwhere else and 
if they do go off to see the rest of the world they 
always come back. But a good part of ’em are 
whalemen’s families. Seems to be something 
about the place that makes folks fall in love with 
it, and ever since Yankee whaleships have been 
cornin’ here, whalemen have been desertin’ and 
joining the colony.” 


90 


AN ISLAND 


“But what do they do for a living?” asked 
Jim. “I should think it would be just the lone- 
liest place in the world. Do they have a king or 
a president, or what?” 

“They raise cattle and garden truck mostly,” 
replied Captain Edwards. “That’s why we whale- 
men stop here — to get fresh vegetables and eggs 
and beef. The land’s fertile and the climate ain’t 
bad and they raise about the best potaters and 
vegetables I ever saw. No, they don’t have any 
king or president or any sort of government, — 
just get along neighborly and nice with elders to 
guide ’em and seem to do a heap better and be 
a lot happier than any republic or kingdom you’ll 
find. And they ain’t a mite wild or uncivilized 
or uneducated either, — ^have churches and schools 
and everything, even if the only folks they ever 
see are whalemen and a British cruiser or ship 
that calls once a year with mail and supplies. 
Whenever she comes in, the folks have all their 
letters and orders ready and send them off and a 
year later they get the goods and the answers. 
Wonder how folks in the States would get on if 
they could only go shopping once a year and 
91 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


had to wait another year to get the things!” 

“Gee, that’s a high mountain!” exclaimed Tom. 
“Will we have time to go ashore, Captain?” 

“Plenty o’ time,” the skipper assured him. 
“We’ll he here a couple of days — have to give 
the folks time to get the supplies together and down 
to the shore, and you can go all over the place in 
that time if you’re as much like goats as the boys 
here are. Yes, pretty good-sized mountain, that — 
over 8,000 feet high and an old volcano.” 

By the time the captain had finished speaking, 
the island loomed close ahead and the boys could 
see tiny houses and buildings scattered about on 
the sloping hillsides. The coast seemed forbid- 
ding and barren with heavy surf breaking every- 
where; but as they drew nearer, a covelike harbor 
appeared, and cautiously feeling his way in, and 
constantly scanning landmarks on the shore. 
Captain Edwards piloted the bark towards the 
island until the sky-piercing cone of the volcano 
appeared to overhang the Hector’s masts. 

At braces and halliards stood the crew, ready 
for instant action when the order was given to 
swing the yards. In the bows stood the second 
92 


AN ISLAND 


mate and his men ready to let the anchor go, and, 
to the boys, it seemed as if the bark would pile 
herself upon the rocks before the captain’s voice 
roared out the orders, the yards swung to the crash 
of slatting sails and the creak of tackle; the roar 
of chain and the splash of anchor were flung back 
in thundering echoes from the cliffs, and the Hector 
swung motionless before the out-of-the-world 
island. 

Long before the bark h^ ’ come to anchor, boats 
were putting off from shore, and in a few moments, 
a miniature flotilla surrounded the Hector, Much 
to the boys’ surprise, — for somehow, despite what 
the captain had told them, they had expected to 
see roughly clad, unkempt, swarthy people — the 
men who were in the boats were fine-looking, rosy- 
cheeked, bronzed-skinned young giants, neatly clad 
in blue dungaree or serge and differing in no 
way from men who might be seen at any seaport 
in New England. 

Laughing and talking, they clambered up the 
bark’s sides and came aboard, greeting Captain 
Edwards and others by name, shaking hands with 
every one and speaking with a peculiar accent that 
93 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


seemed to be a cross between cockney Eng- 
lish and down-east Yankee, — impossible to des- 
cribe. 

All were very friendly and plied the skipper and 
every one else with questions about the war, about 
affairs in the States, about the cruise of the Hector 
and a thousand and one other things. Captain 
Edwards produced a huge bundle of papers and 
magazines and a packet of letters for them, and 
presently a sturdy, tow-headed youth approached 
the boys. 

“My name’s Paul Potter and this is my brother, 
Getty,” he announced, as a younger, freckled- 
faced boy joined them. “You’re the first Ameri- 
can boys I’ve seen in four years.” 

“My name’s Tom Chester and this is Jim 
Lathrop,” said Tom. “We’re from Fair Haven. 
Are you any relation to Cap’n Pern? His name’s 
Potter, too.” 

“Shouldn’t be a bit surprised,” replied Paul, 
“Gran’ther was a New Bedford whaleman and there 
are lots of Potters here.” 

“Yep, an’ plenty o’ Chesters and Lathrops, too,” 
put in Getty. ‘‘Say, tell us all about the war an’ 
94 


AN ISLAND 

what’s goin’ on. We be’nt heard nary word for 
nigh a year.” 

“Has America gone into it?” added Paul. 
“Last we heard was when our ships licked the 
Germans over t’ Falklands. One on them called in 
here to parse the news.” 

Willingly, Tom and Jim related all the most 
important news of the war which had taken place 
since the islanders had last heard from the outside 
world, and the four boys were soon fast friends. 
Then the Potter boys asked about the cruise and 
the trip down. 

“Wisht us might go ’long,” declared Getty. 
“I’d like for to see a whale killed, wouldn’t you, 
Paul?” 

“Rather!” agreed his brother. “And I’d jolly 
well like to go to the South Shetlands ’long of 
you boys. We’ve ne’er been offen Tristan, you 
know.” 

“Dad’s been there,” Getty reminded him. 
“Mind when he told us ’bout yon elephants?” 

“Aye, Dad’s been most all places,” assented 
Paul. “Went to New York onct and Lunnon, too. 
He’s school marster now.” 

95 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


At this moment Cap’n Pern approached. 
‘‘Ready to stretch legs ashore?” he inquired. 
“See ye’ve found chums a’ready. Reckon ye 
didn’t fin’ ’em savages, did ye?” 

“Not a bit,” laughed Tom. “They’re named 
after you, Cap’n Pern. This is Paul and Getty 
Potter.” 

“Well I’ll be squeejiggled!” exclaimed the old 
man. “Glad ter know ye, lads. What’s yer dad’s 
name?” 

“Henry Potter,” replied Paul. “He says he’s 
American, ’cause gran’ther was a New Bedford 
whaleman.” 

“I’ll be demed!” cried Cap’n Pern. “What’s 
his name, — ’tain’t ol’ Lem Potter o’ the Greyhoun, 
is it?” 

“Aye, sir, ’tis so,” Paul assured him. 

“Well, I’ll be holy-stoned an’ everlastin’ly keel- 
hauled!” shouted the whaleman, “ef ye ain’t my 
own fambly! Why, bless yer hearts, I ain’t 
been here in nigh thirty years an’ las’ time I 
touched ’twas in the ol’ Leonidas an’ Lem’s kid 
wasn’t knee high to a grasshopper. Kain’t b’lieve 
he’s growed up an’ got kids like you! Lem’s my 
96 


AN ISLAND 


secon’ cousin ye know. Got los’ from the Grey- 
hourC an’ made Tristan an’ jes’ settled down an’ 
married one o’ the lassies here. Come ’long all 
o’ ye. I jes’ gotter git ashore an’ go a-gammin’, 
boys.” 

‘T wondered if you weren’t relations to Cap’n 
Pern,” chuckled Tom as the four boys and the old 
man made their way to where Paul’s boat was 
moored. 

‘‘And I expect we’ll find members of our families 
there, too,” added Jim. “Say, this is a regular 
little New Bedford, isn’t it?” 

But while the boys found plenty of Chesters and 
Lathrops, as their new friends had stated, they 
were all old English families, and the two boys 
were rather disappointed that they could not boast 
of having relatives on the queer, mid-ocean island. 

They found the place very interesting, with its 
winding, crooked paths, and houses built of beach 
pebbles like the fishermen’s cottages in England, 
and they were tremendously surprised at the variety 
and luxuriance of the vegetables growing in tiny, 
irregular gardens sheltered among the huge vol- 
canic boulders. Reaching the Potter residence, 
97 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


the four left Cap’n Pern chatting and gossiping with 
his white-headed cousin, Lem, and with Paul and 
his brother, climbed up the steep hillside. 

Far up on the mounfain slope the boys threw 
themselves upon a little patch of soft, gray moss 
and gazed down at the panorama of the island far 
below, with the Hector^ looking like a toy ship 
against the deep green water, and the cottages so 
much like piles of brown rocks that they appeared 
mere portions of the landscape. Already, the 
people were busy gathering the vegetables and 
cattle for the bark and the boys could hear their 
shouts and could see them hurrying about like 
busy ants. 

“What do you do to amuse yourselves?” asked 
Tom, at last. 

“Us have plenty to do,” Paul replied. “There’s 
the gardens to be planted an’ cared for an’ the 
cattle an’ fishin’ an’ gathering kelp, and betimes 
we egg or hunt.” 

“What do you gather kelp for?” asked Jim. 

“And what do you hunt and egg?” inquired 
Tom. 

“Kelp’s for to fert’lize the gardens,” explained 

98 


AN ISLAND 


Paul. “Grows big here, twenty fathom long 
sometimes, an’ after storms it looses up and gets 
adrift an’ us gathers it an’ rots it for the land. 
Goats is what we hunt, plenty o’ wild ones here, 
an’ betimes we go sealing an’ fishing. I like egg- 
ing best. It’s more exciting.” 

“How do you go egging?” asked Jim. 

“Us goes down the cliffs on a line,” replied Paul. 
“It’s too early season now or we’d show you.” 

“No ’tain’t,” contradicted Getty. “Plenty gulls 
has eggs to To’gallant Rock. Let’s go.” 

“Want to?” asked Paul. 

“We’d love to,” replied Tom. “Come on.” 

Hurrying down the mountain side, Paul ran 
home and met the others with a long rope and a 
basket in his hands while Getty led the way around 
a comer of the hill and along a faintly marked 
pathway. 

Presently, they reached the edge of a precipitous 
cliff and commenced climbing down over the sharp, 
irregular rocks with the sea roaring against the 
base of the precipice several hundred feet below. 

“Gosh, I guess Cap’n Edwards was right when 
he said we needed to be goats,” panted Tom. 

99 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


‘T’d rather have wings,” replied Jim. 

Disturbed by the boys’ appearance, thousands 
of the sea birds rose from their resting places, and 
with loud cries and screams, whirled and circled 
about in a perfect cloud until the air seemed filled 
with them. Soon the boys came to a spot where 
the rock extended out in an overhanging ledge 
and, lying on his stomach, Paul peered over the 
edge. 

‘T see a plenty,” he announced, as he drew 
back. “Want to look?” 

Crawling cautiously forward to the brink of 
the ledge, Tom and Jim looked over and involun- 
tarily drew quickly back. Although they had been 
accustomed to standing on the lofty crosstrees of 
the Hector and helping the crew on the yards far 
above the tumbling sea, they had never felt dizzy 
or ill at ease, yet, as they glanced over the verge 
of the precipice, their toes and fingers tingled and 
they had a vivid, agonizing sensation of pitching 
over the cliff. Upon the masts or yards there was 
always something tangible to connect them with 
the ship, but here, on this overhanging ledge, there 
was nothing but space between them and the heav- 
100 


AN ISLAND 

ing green sea that roared and thundered about an 
isolated, perpendicular mass of rock that jutted 
from the water for several hundred feet directly 
beneath the spot where they stood. 

‘‘Whew!” exclaimed Tom. “That’s the first 
time I ever felt nervous.” 

“Me, too,” declared Jim. “Gosh! Can you 
fellows look over there?” 

The two islanders laughed. “Us ain’t nervous,” 
stated Paul. “Reckon we’re used to it. Come on, 
look at To’gallant Rock an’ you can see the birds 
a-sittin’.” 

Determined not to be outdone by the two others, 
Tom and Jim again drew themselves to the edge of 
the cliff, and by the exertion of all their will 
power, managed to look down at the mass of rock 
and at the thousands of sea birds which covered 
it. 

“But I don’t see how we’re going to get to them,” 
said Tom as all drew back from the edge. “We 
can’t get down there and no boat could land on 
the rock if we did.” 

Paul and his brother gazed at the speaker in 
amazement. 

101 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“Us goes down on the line,” announced Getty 
at last. “It’s easy.” 

This time it was Tom’s turn to be astonished. 
“You don’t mean to say you boys really go down 
there on a rope!” he cried. 

“Watch us,” replied Paul with a chuckle. Un- 
coiling the long rope he had brought, he quickly 
knotted a bowline in one end, and walking a few 
yards inland, took a turn and a couple of half- 
hitches around a stout, wooden stake that was 
firmly wedged among some rocks. 

“Stand by and help me hold the line,” he 
directed the two boys as his brother adjusted the 
bowline about him and attached the basket to the 
rope. 

Filled with amazement that any mortal would 
dare to be lowered over the cliff on the slender 
line, the boys braced themselves against the rocks 
and took a firm grasp of the rope as Getty, a 
broad grin on his freckled face, threw himself 
upon the ground, and wriggling backwards, let 
his legs and body drop over the verge of the cliff. 
For an instant he held on by one hand. Paul 
and the boys drew the rope taut, and at Getty’s 
102 


AN ISLAND 

cry of ‘‘Lower away!” they slowly paid out the 
line. 

“Guess he’s pretty well down,” remarked Paul, 
after many feet of the rope had slipped over the 
edge. “Just hold fast a minute and I’ll see.” 
Walking to the verge, he called down to his brother 
and the boys could hear Getty’s reply thin and far 
away. 

“Easy now and stand by when I give the word,” 
ordered Paul, and, a moment later, “Hold fast! 
Ease off a bit! All right! Come on and see 
him.” 

Leaving the rope, which was now slack, Tom 
and Jim joined Paul and peered down. There, 
far below them, and crouching on a narrow shelf 
on To’gallant Rock, was Getty, rapidly gathering 
the sea-birds’ eggs and fightihg off the screaming 
birds that half hid him as they wheeled above his 
head. From where they were watching, Getty 
looked like a mere speck and the rock appeared 
so smooth and perpendicular that it seemed im- 
possible that any human being could find foot- 
hold upon it. But even as they looked, Getty 
stood up, and flattening himself against the rocks, 
103 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


commenced walking around the .precipice above 
the thundering surf. The boys held their breath, 
expecting each moment to see him miss his footing 
and fall dangling at the end of the rope, but he 
calmly continued on his way, stooping now and 
again as he reached a nest, until at last, looking 
up, he waved his hand to the boys at the summit of 
the island. 

“Got his basket full up,” announced Paul. 
“Come on, let’s haul him up.” 

Gathering in the slack of the rope, the boys 
strained and pulled, one of them constantly holding 
the slack with a turn around the stake, until 
presently, they heard Getty’s voice, and making 
the line fast, Paul hurried to the edge of the cliff, 
leaned over, and lifted up the basket full of eggs. 
A moment later, Getty pulled himself up on the 
rope and onto the solid ground. 

“Gee, but you have got nerve!” cried Jim. “I 
wouldn’t do that for anything.” 

“Would if you lived on Tristan,” laughed Getty. 
“Dad says as folk can get used to anything, ’cept 
dying. All us boys go down to To’gallant Rock.” 

“ ’Tain’t arf so bad’s 01’ Snorter,” added Paul. 
104 


AN ISLAND 


“Got to swing right in under there, first out an’ 
then in like, an’ the rope gets a-twistin’ most fear- 
ful. Folk don’t let us boys try that.” 

“An’ when a body’s through an’ cornin’ up a 
body must jump off an’ swing out on the line,” 
supplied Getty. “Want to see it?” 

“No, thanks,” Tom assured him. “I’ve seen 
enough, if there’s anything worse I’ll take your 
word for it.” 

As the boys walked back towards the Potter 
home, the two islanders told many a story of their 
life and while Tom and Jim could not understand 
how any civilized people could be content to dwell 
in the place year after year, yet they admitted 
that there was a fascination about the island life. 

Cap’n Pern was still at the cottage and wel- 
comed the boys vociferously. 

“Was jes’ a-tellin’ Lem ’bout you two scally- 
wags,” he cried. “What ye been up to now? 
Egging, eh? Well, fresh eggs is allers mighty 
good. What’s that? Let these two kids o’ Hen’s 
stump ye! Didn’t the skipper tell ye every one 
on Tristan’s a goat! Jes’ the same. I’ll bet ye can 
lick ’em at navigatin’! How about it, boys?” 

105 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“Reckon they could,” admitted Paul. “Us can 
use a sextant though. Dad taught us.” 

“Fve been a-swappin’ yams with Lem ever since 
I got here,” chuckled the old whaleman. “When 
two oT sailormen git to gammin’ arter thirty year 
there’s a tarnation lot to chin erbout. Demed if 
I hadn’t jes’ been tellin’ ’bout the Hector s crew 
o’ derelicts. Thought Lem’d bust hisself a laffin’ 
’bout havin’ a mate an’ bo’sun both with timber 
legs an’ a dummy an’ a one-eyed chap aside. 
Reg’lar home fer cripples, eh?” 

“Shucks!” laughed the old islander. “Ye be’nt 
no cripple. Pern Potter. Why, I sw’ar to good- 
ness, ye’re a better man an’ mate wi’ one leg 
than many a body wi’ twain. Aye, if ye had none 
at all ye’d still be middlin’ hard to beat. ’Tis 
the head an’ heart that makes a body a man, lad, 
not the legs.” 

Then, turning to Tom and Jim, he continued, 
“Pern tells me ye laddies are main daft o’er yams 
o’ the sea. Did he e’er tell ye o’ how he lost his 
leg?” 

“No, sir,” replied Tom promptly. “We never 
asked him about it.” 


106 


AN ISLAND 


“Then, do. Belike he’ll yaw an’ jibe an’ luff 
a bit, but ’tis no yarn to be ashamed on.” 

“Do tell us about it?” begged Tom. “You’ve 
told us lots of yams about other men so tell us 
about yourself.” 

“I’ll be demed ef I will,” declared Pern. “Ef 
this dod-gasted ol’ shellback farmer o’ a cousin o’ 
mine wants ye to know ’bout my dumb foolishness, 
jes’ git him to tell ye. Reckon he knows more 
’bout it than I do, anyway.” 

“Well won’t you tell us then, Mr. Potter?” asked 
Jim. “I guess Cap’n Pern’s too modest.” 

“Aye, that I will,” assented the other. “But 
first, ye laddies’ll eat. ’Tis humble fare we offer, 
but fresh an’ wholesome. So sit ye down. Ah, 
here’s Henry!” 

While they had been talking, Paul and Getty’s 
mother had been preparing the table and the 
savory odor of appetizing food filled the little 
room, and as Lem finished speaking a tall, stal- 
wart man appeared in the doorway. Greeting his 
visitors cordially, the schoolmaster welcomed the 
boys to his home and the island and apologized 
for not being on hand before, explaining that he 
107 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


had been on a visit to a family on the other side of 
the hill and had just heard of the Hector’s arrival. 

He spoke with only a slight accent and was 
evidently well educated. The boys now under- 
stood why Paul and Getty should use such good 
English with only occasional lapses into the Tris- 
tan vernacular. 

Never had the boys enjoyed a meal better than 
that which they ate in the little stone cottage on 
Tristan da Cunha, for the fresh vegetables and 
meat, the home-made biscuits and fresh butter, the 
milk and gulls’ egg omelette, the crisp, fried fish 
and the luscious ripe berries were a marvelously 
welcome change from the ship’s fare. And as 
they ate, the boys had an opportunity to glance 
about at the room and its furnishings. At one 
side^ was a huge, stone fireplace. Above it was 
a narrow shelf bearing an American clock, a 
number of handsome sea shells and several carved 
whales’ teeth, while over it, were hung a long- 
barreled gun and a whale lance. On one side of 
the room, were shelves covered with books and 
magazines, with the model of a whaleship on the 
top shelf, and hanging on the walls were a number 
108 


AN ISLAND 


of pictures of ships, marine scenes and landscapes 
evidently taken from illustrated magazines and 
neatly framed in dark wood. The furniture was 
plain but good. Bright chintz curtains hung at 
the windows and everything was spotlessly clean. 

Although there were no luxuries, there was every 
comfort and the boys could scarcely believe they 
were on this far-away speck of land in the middle 
of the Atlantic, and not in some sailor’s cottage on 
Cape Cod or Nantucket. 

During the meal, the conversation was all of the 
outside world: — the war, the whaling business, 
gossip of old friends and acquaintances and in- 
quiries about the prices of clothing, supplies and 
many other matters. Paul’s father had not been 
in the States for many years and he could scarcely 
credit the changes which Tom and Jim described 
to him. Both boys had visited New York a few 
weeks before they sailed, and the islanders listened 
spellbound as they told of the sky-scrapers, the 
subway and the countless other marvels of the 
metropolis. As Tom said afterwards, it was like 
talking to inhabitants of another planet, for the 
things which seemed so commonplace to the two 
109 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


American boys were as fascinating as fiction to 
the Tristan da Cunha family. Although they had 
seen pictures of motor cars, airplanes, tall build- 
ings and such things, still, to listen to those who 
actually had seen them, was very different. The 
two boys had never before realized that there were 
civilized, white, English speaking people in the 
world who had never seen any of the things which 
were such a familiar part of their own every day 
lives. But when, at last, the meal was over and 
the talk veered to the Hector and her voyage, the 
boys reminded old Lem of his promise to tell 
them the story of Cap’n Pern’s lost leg. 


CHAPTER VII 


HOW CAP’N PEM LOST HIS LEG 

L ong ’bout forty-five years aback,” began 
the old man, as all gathered about to hear 
his story, '*1 were secon’ mate o’ the 
Greyhound bark, out o’ New Bedford — Cap’n Ezra 
Clapham, master — an’ boun’ for the Pacific arter 
sparm whales. Ev’rythin’ went fine an’ we rose 
whales mos’ from the time we was out o’ soundin’s. 
Ne’er did see so pesky many in all o’ my life. 
By the time we was ’round Cape Horn we was 
that full up the Old Man put in at Valp’raiso an’ 
transshipped the ’ile. Reckon thet must ’a bust the 
luck, ’cause we cruised hither an’ yon fer nigh six 
weeks an’ ne’er raised a whale. Had a right smart 
crew too, an’ good as I e’er seen. But I tell ye, it 
begun for to look as if we’d be a-cruisin’ fer the 
res’ o’ our lives an’ rot at sea ’thout gettin’ ’nough 
’ile ter grease our boots. Aye, an’ ’twas fair 
hard work a-keepin’ that crew busy, I tell ye. 
Ev’ry tooth aboard the bark’d been scrimshawed 

111 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

an’ ev’ry mite o’ bone made inter knick-knacks. 
There weren’t a mite o’ ol’ rope or canvas that 
hadn’t been made inter chafin’-gear an’ Chips 
couldn’t fin’ a splinter o’ wood thet so much as 
needed a tenpenny nail or a dab o’ paint. Men 
jes’ spent the time a-s’archin’ fer whale an’ many’s 
tlie day I’ve seed the riggin’ an’ mas’heads that 
full o’ men a-lookin’ fer a blow thet ye’d swored 
the ol’ Greyhound was a mannin’ o’ her yards fer 
show, like as does the ol’ frigates. Bimeby, 
’long erbout nine week out o’ Valp’raiso, we seen 
a sail, an’ runnin’ down to her, we foun’ she was 
the Mohawk out o’ Salem. Course we had a 
gammin’ an’ the Mohawk’s folk — ^they was purty 
nigh full up an’ home’ard boun’ — spun a yarn 
’bout a mad whale what they’d riz a couple o’ week 
afore. Tol’ how as the cap’n’s boat had struck an’ 
was fas’ when the critter turned an’ run fer the 
boat, an’ grabbin’ it in his jaws chewed it to 
smithereens. Then ’long comes the mate’s boat an’ 
picked up the men an’ the secon’ and third mates’ 
boats went in an’ both boats got fas’. Well, thet 
jes’ made the whale wusser an’ wusser, an’ a 
swingin’ o’ his jaw to sta’board an’ port, he chawed 
112 


HOW CAP’N PEM LOST HIS LEG 


both boats. Cordin’ to the yam, the ol’ bull now 
had six irons in him, but thet didn’t bother him a 
mite, an’ no sooner was the nex’ boat fas’ than he 
stove thet. Meantime, two spare boats was on 
han’, a-pickin’ up the other’s crews, when the ol’ 
whale jes’ rushed ’em an’ sounded, a-leavin’ four 
stove boats an’ a-takin’ o’ seven irons an’ twelve 
hundred fathoms o’ line to Davy Jones fer 
souv’neers. Aye, an’ ye can jes’ bet our men 
druv the barbs inter the Mohawk folk a-laffin’ at 
’em fer a-losin’ o’ a bull whale, arter they’d got 
seven irons in. One o’ our chaps — a young boat 
steerer — ’lowed he’d like ter see the whale he’d 
let get away with his iron and lines, an’ ev’ry one 
o’ the crew o’ the Greyhoun^ was that sore at not 
havin’ raised a whale fer so long thet they jus’ 
prayed fer a chanct ter run athwart the hawse o’ 
the Mohawk^s mad whale. 

“An’ by gum, we did! Three days arter leavin’ 
the Mohawk, we raised a whale ’bout four p’ints 
offen the sta’board bow and the cap’n an’ mate 
lowered. But I’ll be blowed ef thet whale’d wait 
fer ’em to go on, but jes’ as soon as he spied the 
boats he come arter ’em head up an’ tail over the 
113 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


dasher, so to speak, a-roarin’ an’ a fumin’ with 
his jaws wide open, an’ gettin’ the mate’s boat 
fust, he stove thet and turned fer the cap’n’s. Jes’ 
took one nip and there weren’t ’nough lef’ o’ 
thet boat fer to make toothpicks outen. Then a- 
droppin’ o’ the boat, the pesky bull swung ’roun’ 
an’ grabbed the mate. Jes’ as luck’d hev it, the bark 
weren’t far, an’ soon’s I see what was happ’nin’ 
I lowered an’ started a-yellin’ ter the third mate ter 
f oiler an’ pick up the cap’n’s crew. Jes’ got ter 
the mate in the nick o’ time an’ hauled him in 
purty well chawed an’ mussed up, when the whale 
breached ’bout quarter o’ a mile ahead. My boat 
steerer was the cock-sure cuss I told ye of an’ 
’fore I could say a word the crew was a-pullin’ 
like mad an’ we was a-goin’ on. ’Course I didn’t 
stop on ’em — didn’t want no boat steerer or crew 
a tellin’ me I was scart o’ any bull whale — an’ 
purty soon the boat steerer puts down his oar 
and pulls offen his jacket and takes up the iron, 
fer we was close on an’ the ol’ bull didn’t seem 
fer to see us. 

“Nex’ minute the young chap struck, an’ by gum, 
afore ye could say Holy Mac’rel thet dumb-gasted 
114 


HOW CAP’N PEM LOST HIS LEG 

boat steerer had another iron inter the critter! 
Dunno whether ’twas the s’prise o’ bein’ struck 
’twict ter onct or what, but the fight all seemed ter 
go clean out o’ the whale and he jes’ sounded like 
a lump o’ lead. Jes’ as soon as he’d put the 
secon’ iron in, the boat steerer tumbled aft an’ 
I jumped f o’ ward an’ o’ course the two lines was 
a-whirrin’ out o’ the bow-chock like steam an’ a 
jumpin’ like livin’ snakes o’ steel outen their tubs. 
Jes’ as I passes the tub-oar, I hear a sort o’ yell 
and a groan an’ I swings ’roun’ in time to see the 
boat steerer a-floppin’ roun’ an’ a-flyin’ forrard 
with a kink o’ the secon’ line ’roun’ his leg. Nex’ 
secon’ there was a flash o’ steel an’ a dull thud 
an’, think I, some one’s cut the line, an’ I see 
what I took ter be a oT boot splash overboard. 
’Course ’twas all over in the shake o’ a lamb’s 
tail, an’ jes’ then the whale was a cornin’ up to 
breach an’ I didn’t give no heed ter it. ’Spected 
the whale fer to turn on us, but he’d got ernough 
o’ fightin’, I reckon, and started off to the west’ard 
as if he’d a forgotten sumpthin’. Didn’t steer no 
straight course, though, an’ milled an’ twisted an’ 
turned; an’ thet there boat steerer was a wonder. 
115 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Swung the boat quicker’n the whale an’ never 
shipped a drop till ’bout fifteen minutes arter 
gettin’ fas’, we drew in an’ druv home the lance 
an’ without a flurry the oT bull spouted blood an’ 
went fin up. An’ jes’ as he done it I heerd a rattle 
an’ thud, an’ lookin’ ’roun’ I seed the boat steerer 
all a heap in the starn. When I got to him I jes’ 
give one almighty yell an’ drapped down an’ 
couldn’t believe my own eyes. Thet there young- 
ster had chopped off his own leg an’d been a- 
steerin’ o’ the boat with a bleedin’ stump fer fifteen 
mortal minutes! When he cum to, the fust thing 
he says was, ‘Did ye git that there mad whale?’ 
An’ when we told him he jes’ grinned an’, sez he, 
‘Told them Mohawk Ian’ lubbers I’d git him or lose 
a leg, an’ I did.’ An’ diet’s how Pern come fer to 
lose his leg.” 

Cap’n Pern flushed purple to his grizzled hair. 
’‘Lem, ye ol’ lyin’ shellback!” he burst out. 
“ ’Twant me what kilt the bull an’ ye know blamed 
well ’twas jes’ fer to save my life I done it. Any- 
how, what’s the use a talkin’ ’bout things what was 
done forty year ago?” 

But the boys and the assembled company would 

116 


HOW CAPN PEM LOST HIS LEG 


not listen to his protestations or denials and vowed 
he was a real hero. 

Now that the subject of whaling adventures had 
been started, various stories of marvelous escapes 
and incredible heroism were told, for several of 
the islanders who had gathered at the Potter cot- 
tage, were old whalemen who had left their peril- 
ous calling to settle down for the rest of their lives 
on Tristan da Cunha. They told of ships sunk by 
infuriated whales which blindly rushed at the 
vessels and stove them in. They related tales of 
being locked in the Arctic ice floes and of the awful 
loss of the whaling fleet in 1871, when thirty-two 
ships were crushed and destroyed and over twelve 
hundred people made their way in open boats 
through freezing, stormy seas for eight hundred 
miles in order to seek safety in the vessels which 
awaited them. They spun many a yarn of weird, 
uncanny happenings at sea, of premonitions, St. 
Elmo’s fire and derelicts; of mutinies and acts of 
violence, and all were true; for the whalemen, un- 
like his merchant sailor brother, has plenty of 
facts to draw from without the need of weaving 
tales from imagination. 

117 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

“Aye, an’ that ’minds me o’ the cap’n o’ the 
Pole Star/’ mused one gray-bearded old islander 
after one of the others had told a story. “Ye’ll 
mind she was a-whalin’ in the Ar’tic. The cap’n 
struck a right whale an’ was fas’ when his boat 
were stove an’ the whale tackled the cap’n. I 
was boat steerer i’ the mate’s boat an’ seen the 
whole thing. The 01’ Man were a pow’ful fine 
swimmer an’ used fer to boast on it, an’ ’twere 
sure lucky fer him he were, b’gosh! Fust time 
the whale started fer him, he dove under an’ come 
up t’other side o’ the whale. Us couldn’t get in 
near, the whale was a kickin’ up of sech a rum- 
pus, fust striking wi’ its flukes an’ then a risin’ 
of its head an’ a slammin’ of it down like er 
capsized mountain, an’ all the time the skipper 
a-divin’ an’ a dodgin’ an’ a swimmin’ fer his life. 
Two or three times I seen the whale’s flukes lift 
the cap’n clean out o’ water an’ time an ag’in I 
seed the head come down an’ druv him clean out 
o’ sight. Each time us thought ’twas all over, 
but somehow or t’other the skipper didn’t get hit 
square an’ kep’ a-fightin’. ’Course us didn’t know 
it at the time, but all the while the skipper was 
118 


HOW CAP’N PEM LOST HIS LEG 


a-tryin’ to git his sheath-knife into the whale’s nose 
to tarn him — ye mind a right whale’s nose’s so 
plumb tender he’ll turn tail an’ run if ye so much 
as touches of it — but the knife got stuck an’ he had 
a mortal time a drawin’ on it, what betwix’ swim- 
min’ an’ a dodgin’ o’ flukes an’ head. Bimeby, 
though, he got it out, an’ edgin’ roun’ — ^ye mind 
a right whale can’t see ahead — he swum in front 
o’ the whale and druv the knife home. Jumpin’ 
Jehosephat! Ye’d oughter a seed that there whale 
skihoot off! Bet he ain’t stopped a-goin’ yit, 
an’ thet was back in seventy-three. An’ us picked 
up skipper nary the wusser fer his fight.” 

“An’ did ye ever hear o’ the whaleman what 
was actooally grabbed by a sparm bull an’ taken 
down to the bottom an’ spit up ag’in?” asked an- 
other ex-whaleman. “I disrecollec’ his ship, but 
he was a chap name o’ Jenkins. Got fas’ to a 
sparm whale back in ’70. Whale turned an’ bit 
the boat in two and then made a rush and grabbed 
Jenkins an’ sounded. The boat weren’t smashed 
up, jes’ cut clean amidships, an’ the crew was a 
holdin’ on ter the two pieces a-waitin’ to be picked 
up an’ a sorry in’ fer their los’ mate, when the 
119 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


whale breaches close alongside, an’ openin’ his 
mouth, spits Jenkins out and tosses of him into the 
forrard part o’ his boat. Wam’t much hurt 
neither — bruised up a bit an’ mauled, but less’n 
a fortni’t later was back ter work again.” 

“That is a tall yarn,” laughed Tom. “Is it 
true?” 

“True as I’m a settin’ here,” maintained the 
story teller. 

“Aye, I’ve heerd of it afore,” supplemented old 
Lem. 

“Seed about it in the ship’s log-book, myself,” 
Cap’n Pern assured them. “Ye can read it yer- 
sel’s when ye go back. It’s over to the Mus’um in 
New Bedford.” 

“Well, I can believe anything after what I’ve 
seen and heard,” admitted Tom. 

“Reckon we’d better be gittin’ ’long back ter 
the ship,” observed Cap’n Pern. “Skipper’ll 
think we’ve decided for to settle down here.” 

With hearty handshakes and thanks for the 
islanders’ hospitality, the two boys invited Paul 
and Getty to visit the Hector when their grand- 
father came off next day, and accompanied by a 
120 


HOW CAP’N PEM LOST HIS LEG 


group of their new-found friends, they made their 
way to the landing place. Already, a large amount 
of provisions had heen brought down and the 
boats were just returning from taking a load 
aboard the Hector, Captain Edwards was already 
on the bark and he laughed heartily and was much 
interested at the boys’ accounts of their experiences 
on the island. 

The following day, the islanders visited the ship 
and after the midday meal, when all the supplies 
had been loaded, the captain had the decks cleared 
and the men spent the afternoon skylarking with 
their visitors. 

Early the next morning, the boys were aroused 
by the clank of the anchor chain and the rousing 
capstan chantey, as the men, walking the hand- 
spikes around, sang lustily: 

Oh, a ship she was rigged and ready for sea, 

Windy weather! Stormy weather! 

And all of her sailors were fishes to be, 

Blow ye winds, westerly, gentle sou’ westerly, 

Blow ye winds westerly, steady she goes.” 

Hurrying on deck, the boys found the bark 
already slipping through the water, while on the 
121 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


shore and resting on their oars in the boats, the 
islanders were waving farewells and shouting good 
wishes for a quick voyage and a full cargo. 

An hour later, the island’s slopes were indistinct 
in the mist astern and as the boys took their last 
look at the towering, volcanic cone they felt a 
pang of regret at having left the island and the 
simple, pleasant folk that dwelt upon it. 


CHAPTER VIII 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 

A lthough it was early summer in these 
southern latitudes, the weather was chilly 
and desolate. Great, cold, green waves 
came rolling from the west, their crests breaking 
in hissing spray and the bark drove on under 
shortened canvas beneath a sullen, leaden sky. 
From time to time, driving squalls of snow and 
sleet screeched through the rigging, leaving every 
rope, shroud and stay ice-coated, and each time the 
Hector buried her bluff bows beneath the mountain- 
ous seas, she rose with ice-sheeted decks. Bundled 
in heavy pea-jackets, hip-boots and oilskins, with 
sou’ westers jammed upon their heads, the crew 
stood about, sheltering themselves behind masts, 
deck-houses and try-works, and on the poop the 
officers and the two boys paced back and forth, 
stamping their feet and beating their arms to keep 
warm, while ever and anon the captain stopped to 
peer anxiously into the murk ahead. For several 
123 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


days it had been impossible to take an observation 
and the ship was plunging southward, navigated 
by dead reckoning only, while lookouts were ever 
at the mastheads straining their eyes for bergs or 
ice or even possible land. Each day, too, the 
bird convoy of the bark increased in numbers. 
Dozens of albatrosses of several kinds skimmed the 
breaking waves on tireless wings. Giant, white 
fulmars or “Molly Mokes,” snowy sheathbills, and 
a dozen other species of sea birds were everywhere, 
and often the boys caught sight of distant icebergs 
or vast, floating fields of pack-ice, shimmering like 
burnished steel against the gray-green sea. 

Then one day, came the cry of “Land ho!” from 
the masthead and peering ahead the boys caught 
sight of a shadowy, gray mass looming above the 
low-hung clouds against the southern horizon. 
Presently, as they watched, Tom uttered an ex- 
clamation and grasped Jim’s arm. Close to the 
bark, a huge dark body rose suddenly from the 
sea, a long-snouted head reared up and with a 
coughing,' snarling bark and a flash of great, white 
teeth, the creature disappeared beneath the sea. 

“A sea elephant!” cried Jim, and intently the 

124 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


two scanned the surface of the water for its re- 
appearance. Soon they were rewarded. Again 
the giant seal flung itself upward from the curving 
crest of a wave and then another and another ap- 
peared until, all about the speeding ship, the sea 
was dotted with the monsters, seemingly unafraid 
of the vessel and playing about like enormous 
porpoises. 

Soon, however, the boys’ attentions were diverted 
from the sea elephants, for ahead they caught sight 
of thousands of bobbing black and white forms 
floating upon the waves, now leaping several feet 
in the air, anon ducking beneath the sea, at times 
standing upright and apparently clapping hands 
or again tumbling over and over like playful 
puppies. 

‘‘What in the world are they?” asked Jim as 
Cap’n Pern approached. 

“Penguins,” replied the old whaleman. “Ye’ll 
see ’em by tens o’ thousan’s on shore.” 

In a few moments more, the bark was in the 
midst of the flock of the strange fishlike birds, 
and on every side, ahead and astern, the water was 
alive with them and both boys were fascinated 
125 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


watching their droll antics. Then they were in- 
terrupted by orders to shorten sail still further, 
and as the bark rolled along over the rapidly 
smoothing sea, the boys’ interests were centered 
on the distant island they were approaching. 
Desolate, forbidding and bleak, it appeared, a 
vast, uprising, towering mass of dull-colored rock, 
flanked by stony hills and rimmed by pebbly 
beaches and outstanding cliffs against which the 
long Antarctic swells broke in great sheets of 
thundering surf. 

Nearer and nearer drew the Hector, Forward 
a man was steadily heaving the lead; at the cat- 
heads stood the second mate with his men ready 
at any instant to let go the anchor; ready at the 
braces stood the men waiting for the word to back 
the yards, while on the poop stood the captain and 
the chief mate, the one, studying the island through 
his glasses, the other, scanning the ship and sails 
and all on the alert to bring the bark to and anchor 
her in safety off the forbidding shores of Elephant 
Island. Now, upon the hillsides, the boys could 
see patches of dried and dead herbage among the 
rocks. Here and there were sheets of ice and 
126 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


snow still lingering in the shadows of cliffs and 
ledges. Upon the beach were scattered masses of 
rotten ice, and everywhere among them, a moving, 
dark mass that covered the shingle from end to 
end, were hundreds of mighty sea elephants whose 
sharp, incessant barking was borne plainly to those 
on the ship. Scattered upon the hillsides and on 
the rising ground back of the beach were countless 
flecks of white which at first the boys had mis- 
taken for snow, but now, as the ship drew near, 
they saw that they were moving, that they were 
alive, and suddenly it dawned upon them that they 
were birds — thousands of albatrosses — while vast 
areas of gray and white which the boys had thought 
were ice now resolved themselves into tens of thou- 
sands of penguins, standing upright with white 
breasts towards the oncoming bark and looking like 
an army of tiny men. 

Suddenly, above the roar of the surf, the barking 
of the sea elephants and the cries of the birds, 
came the sharp order ‘‘Let go!” and as the huge 
yards were swung and the cable roared out and 
the anchor struck the water with a mighty splash, 
pandemonium seemed to be let loose upon the 
127 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


island. Like a vast, white cloud the albatrosses 
and sea birds rose with a roar of wings like 
thunder, while the air was filled with their sharp 
cries, and as with one accord every sea elephant 
raised high his head, bared his long teeth and 
roared forth a barking howl of defiance at the 
intruders. 

Rapidly the sails were furled and the men pre- 
pared to lower the boats and go ashore, for Captain 
Edwards was to continue on with the Hector to 
the other islands after leaving a shore party here 
to kill sea elephants and boil down their oil. 
There was much to be accomplished. Lumber 
and supplies had to be sent ashore for building 
shacks for the men. Thousands of barrel shooks 
had to be placed on the land for use in stowing 
the oil. Clothing, provisions, fuel and a hundred 
and one other articles had to be transported from the 
bark to the island. There were tools, rope, canvas, 
forges, arms, ammunition, medicines, spades, irons, 
lances and many other utensils which were es- 
sential to the men and time was limited, if the 
captain were to get a full ship and sail north 
before the short Antarctic summer was over. 

128 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


The first boat lowered was to go ashore to select 
sites for the men’s quarters and for the try-works 
while the other boats were being loaded, and Cap’n 
Pern, who was in charge, called to the two boys 
to jump in. 

“Gosh!” cried Jim as the boat neared the shore 
and was surrounded by scores of swimming sea 
elephants, “you’re not going to land among all 
those beasts are you?” 

“Sure as is!” laughed old Pern. “Them critters 
won’t hurt a fly. Jes’ shuffle out o’ the way an’ 
bark a bit. Well, we’ll have fresh meat fer dinner 
to-night, anyway. We’ll jes’ knock a few o’ them 
over the snout an’ have biled tongue an’ roast 
flipper an’ fried liver. Finest eatin’ ye ever see, 
boys.” 

Despite Cap’n Pern’s assurances that the crea- 
tures would not harm them, the boys were very 
nervous as the boat grated on the beach within a 
few yards of the vast herd of giant seals, and they 
had no desire to be the first to leap ashore among 
the growling, barking horde of animals which 
wrinkled their snouts and bared their huge tusks 
as the boat drew near. But the men appeared not 
129 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


to give the sea elephants a thought, and jumping 
from the boat ran it far up the shingle. As they 
did so, the nearest elephants wriggled and dragged 
themselves to one side and the boys, taking courage 
at this, fought down their fears and followed Cap’n 
Pern up the beach. Here, when seen at close 
quarters, the sea elephants seemed stupendous. 

In fact, they were. Many were forty feet in 
length and their backs were as high as the boys’ 
shoulders, while their savage-looking jaws seemed 
big enough to crush one’s head to bits at a single 
bite. Much to the boys’ surprise, the men merely 
shoved or kicked such of the creatures as were in 
their way, and selecting the small-sized and ap- 
parently young animals, they killed several by 
hitting them over their heads with clubs. To the 
boys, it seemed very cruel and brutal, but, as Tom 
remarked, it really was no worse than killing oxen 
or sheep. Even when their comrades had been 
killed and lay bleeding among them, the other 
elephants showed no signs of alarm and the boys 
decided they must, indeed, be very stupid crea- 
tures. 

Leaving some of the men to secure the titbits of 

130 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


the animals for their dinner, Cap’n Pern led the 
boys and the other men across the beach beyond the 
elephant herd. Here the boys had plenty to inter- 
est them, for everywhere they were surrounded 
by the quaint penguins, hopping about on their 
queer flat feet, peering curiously at the men and 
shuffling out of the way in funny, jerky jumps. 
So fascinated were the boys with these odd birds 
that they seated themselves on a rock and watched 
them for some time, while the others busied them- 
selves hunting for a likely spot for the camp. By 
the time this had been selected, the other boats 
were on the way to the shore and in a few minutes 
were being unloaded and the goods they had 
brought were being stacked far above reach of the 
waves. 

“Found any eggs?” asked Cap’n Pern, as he 
returned to where the boys were watching the 
penguins. 

“Why, no,” replied Tom. “Where are their 
nests?” 

The old man chuckled. “Ain’t got none,” he 
replied. “Jes’ lay their eggs ’mongst the rocks.” 

“Well, it’s funny we haven’t seen any, then,” 

131 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


said Jim. ‘‘We’ve been walking about watebing 
the birds and none of them acted as if they were 
sitting.” 

“Wall, that’s where they fooled ye,” laughed 
Cap’n Pern. “Ye may think they’re mighty stupid- 
lookin’ critters, but they ain’t. Jes’ look here.” 

With a quick dash, the old whaleman seized 
two of the penguins, and to the boys’ astonishment, 
held up two big blue-green eggs. 

“Well, of all things,” exclaimed Tom. “Where 
on earth did you get those eggs?” 

“Jes’ ketch one o’ ’em an’ I’ll show ye,” replied 
the old whaleman. 

Following his tactics, the two boys managed to 
capture three of the birds. 

“Now jes’ look at their feet,” said Pern. “See 
how they’re a-holdin’ of ’em up against their 
bellies?” 

Wonderingly the boys forced apart the birds’ 
big, flat, webbed feet, and to their surprise, dis- 
covered that each bird was holding an egg between 
its feet and the thick feathers of a loose fold of 
skin on the abdomen. 

“That’s the funniest thing I ever saw,” declared 

132 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


Jim. ‘‘Why, these birds must go hopping about 
holding their eggs all the time.” 

“Not eggzacTy,” replied the mate. “Onc’t in 
a while they sets ’em down ’mong the rocks, but 
jes’ as soon as they get scared or thinks the’s danger 
erbout they grabs their eggs an’ carries ’em erbout 
like ye seen.” 

“An’ I’ll tell ye another queer thing erbout 
’em,” he continued. “When the hen’s a-luggin’ 
of her egg erbout the ol’ man gits mighty jealous 
an’ if he can’t wheedle his mate into lettin’ him 
tote the egg part o’ the time, he jes’ picks out a 
nice round stone an’ carries that ’round as proud 
as a peacock. Queer chaps, the Penguins, and no 
fools, even ef we whalers does call ’em Jackasses.” 

“Are the eggs good to eat?” asked Tom. 

“Wall, I can’t say as they’re gone?,” replied the 
other, “thet is, ’longside o’ hens’ eggs. Jes’ the 
same they ain’t so bad an’ a heap better’n al- 
batrosses’ or Molly Mokes’ eggs. We’ll fetch 
along them we’ve got, an’ ye can try ’em an’ see 
how ye like ’em, though I reckon if ye stays here 
fer a spell ye’ll have more than enough of ’em.” 

“Oh, are we going to stay here?” cried Tom. 

133 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“Dunno,” replied Cap’n Pern, “Reckon ye’d 
have more fun here than stayin’ aboard the Hector 
an’ cruisin’ ’long over to t’other islan’s. Ain’t 
nothin’ to int’rest ye over there an’ the bark’s goin’ 
to take a run over to Punta Arenas like as not, an’ 
it ain’t no picnic beatin’ ’round the Horn an’ 
nothin’ much to see over to Punta Arenas. ’Sides 
your dad’s counted on me ter look after ye, an’ 
I dunno ’bout lettin’ ye go off without me.” 

“Then you’re going to stay here!” cried Jim. 
“Of course, we’ll stay, too.” 

“Wall, I reckon we’d better be gittin’ back 
aboard the ship and gittin’ a bit ter eat,” declared 
the whaleman. “The’s a heap to do an’ not too 
much time to do it in, even if we can work all 
night.” 

As they walked towards the boat, the boys 
noticed that the herd of sea elephants had with- 
drawn for some distance from the men and that 
many of them had disappeared. 

“Won’t all the elephants be frightened away by 
the men?” asked Tom. 

“No,” replied the old man, “they’ll keep a mite 
out o’ the way and mebbe some on ’em’ll take 
134 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


to water fer a spell; but they’ll all haul out again 
an’ when we git ready ter kill ’em they’ll all be 
on hand.” 

“It seems an awful shame to kill the poor, stupid 
things,” said Jim. “It’s almost like murder.” 

“Wall, ’tain’t sport I’ll admit,” agreed Pern, 
“but jes’ the same it’s a heap better to kill ’em 
an’ have their ’ile doin’ some good to civ’lized 
folks ’stead o’ keepin’ these critters warm down 
in this ’ere God-forsaken place. ’Sides, ’tain’t no 
worse’n killin’ whales.” 

“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” agreed Jim. 
“Only they appear so harmless and helpless, it 
seems a pity.” 

“Reckon ye’re right there, son,” conceded old 
Pern, “but jes’ the same we don’t hurt ’em. 
Reckon they don’t suffer a mite. ’Tain’t half as 
cruel as stickin’ pigs or shootin’ pa’tridges.” 

The boys marveled at the vast number of goods 
which the boats had brought ashore, and already, 
the carpenter and his assistants were busy putting 
up the shacks of lumber and canvas while the 
cooper was setting up casks. 

When they reached the bark, dinner was ready 

135 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


and the boys sat down to their first meal of sea 
elephants’ tongues, flippers and liver, which they 
declared delicious; but they could not say as much 
for the penguins’ eggs which were strong and 
rather fishy in flavor. 

“I suppose I could eat them and not mind,” said 
Tom, ‘‘but I’d have to be pretty hungry to like 
them.” 

“Good deal like the old fellow that had to eat 
a crow,” remarked Mr. Kemp. “Some one asked 
him how he liked it and he says, ‘Well, I kin ea! a 
crow but I’ll be hanged if I hanker arter ’em.” 

In a wonderfully short time, the shelters were 
erected, the stores, provisions, supplies and casks 
were ashore and stowed, and everything was in 
readiness for the departure of the bark. 

Ten men of the crew had been selected to remain 
upon the island, as well as the bo’sun, Mike, old 
Cap’n Pern, and the two boys, and while Pern 
growled and remarked that “one peg-leg is bad 
enough but what we’re a-goin’ fer to do with two, I 
don’t know,” yet the boys were immensely pleased 
to find the ex-man-o’-war’s-man was to be with them, 
for he was never tired of telling deep-sea yams 
136 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


and the boys loved to hear him and old Pern argue 
on questions of seamanship and the navy. 

Among the men, were one of the boat steerers, 
two of the Portuguese taken on the Hector at the 
Azores, and the one-eyed man, Ned, with a negro, 
who had been helping the cook on the bark, to 
look after the meals of the shore party. 

Cap’n Pern, as commander of the party, had been 
allowed to select his own men and he had done 
so with considerable care, choosing those whom he 
knew were willing and hard workers or had shown 
unusual ability or skill, for the old whaleman was 
a keen observer and a fine judge of human nature. 
While he was apparently giving little heed to what 
went on about him, nothing escaped his sharp eyes. 

The boys felt sorry at leaving the bark and as 
they shook hands with Captain Edwards and the 
second mate and said good-by, they almost re- 
gretted that they were to remain ashore. 

‘‘Don’t know how I’ll get on without my third 
and fourth mates!” exclaimed the skipper, “but 
you’ll have a lot more fun here than on the bark. 
Nothing but knocking about in heavy seas and 
cold winds. Enjoy yourselves, lads, and see that 
137 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Cap’n Pern behaves himself. WeTl be back in 
about six or eight weeks and expect to find you 
with all casks full of oil.” 

Stepping into the waiting boat, the boys were 
rowed towards the shore, and as the bark’s capstan 
pawls clanked and they heard the chantey of the 
men borne to them across the water, a lump rose 
in their throats, for the old Hector had been their 
home for many weeks. Then, clear and distinct 
came the rollicking chorus of : 

I think I heard our Old Man say, 

“Whisky! Johnny! 

I’ll treat my men in a decent way, 

Oh, whisky for my Johnny!” 

Slowly the great sails rose and were sheeted 
home, the canvas billowed out to the offshore 
wind, the long yards swung, and as the crew tailed 
onto the braces, to the watchers on the beach came: 

The ship she’s a-sailing out over the bar. 

Away Rio! Away Rio! 

The ship she’s a-sailing out over the bar. 

We’re bound to the Rio Grande. 

Slowly the Hector slipped away. Gracefully 
she heeled to the press of canvas on her lofty masts. 
138 


ELEPHANT ISLAND 


About her cutwater rose a little plume of white, 
and, rapidly gathering headway, she made for the 
open sea. Long the boys stood watching her and 
when, at last, only her royal masts showed faint 
and dim above the tumbling green seas on the 
horizon, they turned away, feeling that the last 
tie that linked them with far-away Fair Haven was 
gone, that they were marooned upon a desert island 
scarcely fifteen hundred miles from the South Pole. 


CHAPTER IX 


SPINNING YARNS 

S uppose she sHouM be wrecked and never 
came back!” asked Tom as they turned away 
from watching the Kark sail. ‘‘What would 
happen to us?” 

“Wall, we ain’t a calc’latin’ on that,” replied 
Cap’n Pern, “hut jes’ the same, we wouldn’t be 
so bad off ef she didn’t. We’ve got a-plenty o’ 
grub an’ if wusser come to wusser I reckon we 
could salt down enough Jackasses an’ albatrosses 
an’ sea elephants to keep us alive fer quite some 
spell. ’Twouldn’t be the fust time folks has been 
lef’ down this way count o’ their ships not turnin’ 
up in time.” 

' “Be gob, no!” declared Mike who stood near. 
“B’gorra, Oi had a frind once, a foine chap en- 
toirely, phwat tould me a sthory av a frind o’ his 
phwat knowed a feller phwat wuz lift fer three 
mortal years on wan av these oilan’s. Shure ’tis 
mesilf phwat’s afther forgettin’ the name av it; 
140 


SPINNING YARNS 


but ’twas Quirlicue Lan’ or somethin’ loike thot. 
Sure, yis, b’gorra, Misther Potter, ’twas that same! 
Kerguelan, is it? Well, as Oi was afther sayin’ 
they wuz lift three years, an’ Faith, only wan av 
the bunch doied an’ he a Portugee phwat didn’t 
doi but was afther killin’ av himself. So don’t 
yez be a woorryin’ av yersilves me b’ys. Sure, 
’tis not a bad place to sthop at all, at all.” 

“Well, I don’t want to be marooned here for 
three years, anyhow,” maintained Jim. “I guess I 
wouldn’t mind a few weeks or months, but just 
think what it must be like in winter when the 
seas are all frozen and the place is covered with 
ice and snow. What would you do if the Hector 
didn’t come back on time, Cap’n Pern?” 

“Now, what’s the everlastin’ use o’ talkin’ ’bout 
it,” replied the mate testily. “There ain’t no 
’arthly reason why the Hector shouldn’t turn up an’ 
if she didn’t, I’d wait a spell an’ then take to the 
boats. ’Twouldn’t be no sail ’tall to make Tristan 
d’ Cunha or the Falklands from here.” 

“Why, they’re hundreds of miles off!” ex- 
claimed Tom. “You don’t mean to say you’d try 
to get there in those little boats!” 

141 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Cap’n Pem snorted, ‘‘Course I would!” he de- 
clared. “Little boats! Look a-here, son, them 
there whaleboats is the bes’ seagoin’ craft afloat. 
I tell ye, Fd rather be in them there boats in a 
sea than in a heap o’ big ships. Why, bless your 
heart! I could tell ye more’n one yarn o’ whale- 
men what sailed more’n three thousan’ miles in 
boats like them.” 

“Oh, do tell us about them!” cried Jim. 

“Not now,” replied the old whaleman, “We’ve 
gotter git busy. Mebbe ’long arter dinner Fll spin 
ye a yam.” 

All through the first day the men were busy 
preparing the implements and getting things ready 
for slaughtering and trying out the sea elephants. 
Spades were sharpened and placed in readiness; 
the big boiling kettles were brought out and the 
try-works built; the casks were arranged for filling; 
the killing clubs were selected and with everything 
prepared for the killing to begin the following 
day, the men sat down to a hearty meal of sea 
elephants’ tongues and liver, baked beans and 
plum duff, while the boys and Cap’n Pem dined 
on some delicious fresh fish which one of the men 
142 


SPINNING YARNS 

had caught, with fresh crabs and craw fish from 
among the rocks of the shore. 

When the meal was over, the boys insisted on 
the mate keeping his promise to tell them the story 
he had mentioned and after a few objections, the 
old man gave in and lighting his pipe, while every- 
body gathered about and listened, he began. 

“Wall,” said the old whaleman, “I was sayin"' 
to ye boys that I knowed o’ whalemen rowin’ over 
three thousan’ miles in their boats, but I reckon 
I’d oughter ha’ said I’d heard on ’em. But I 
hev knowed o’ whalemen a-rowin’ more’n a thou- 
san’ miles, and what’s more, I wuz boy on the 
ship what picked ’em up in the end, so ye’ll hev 
to b’lieve this ’ere yarn ’cause it’s true as is, an’ I 
kin swear to it. Hows’ever I calc’late I’d better 
begin at the beginnin’ an’ not git all aback an’ in 
stays an’ afoul o’ my own hawse by beginnin’ 
tail en’ fust. ’Twas ’long back in ’59, purty long 
spell ago, an’ the bark Janet , hailin’ from Westport, 
was a-cruisin’ fer sparm in the Pacific ’long 
’bout the equator an’ ’bout a hundred an’ ten west. 
Eve’ything’d been a-goin’ fust rate an’ one o’ the 
boats made fast to a bull whale late in the arter- 
143 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

noon and by the time he’d spouted blood an’ turned 
fin-up, ’twas purty near night. Wall, they got 
their fluke-chain round the critter all right an’ was 
a startin’ to pull him to the Janet, what was hull 
down, when a heavy sea caught the boat jes’ right 
an’ capsized her. ’Course ’twan’t much trouble 
to right her, but everything they had was lost — 
kag o’ water, biscuits, compass, lantern an’ all 
fittin’s — an’ while the crew got her right side up in 
a jiffy they couldn’t bail her out ’cause o’ the 
bucket an’ bailer bein’ gone. An’ I tell ye, ’tain’t 
no picnic tryin’ to keep a water-filled boat right 
side up in a heavy sea an’ blowin’ a holy gale. 
Some reason or t’other the ship hadn’t seen ’em 
an’ they couldn’t signal the bark, an’ to keep the 
boat from capsizin’ again they lashed the oars 
’crost her an’ worked her over ’longside the dead 
whale and done their best to tip her up an’ dump 
the water outen her. But ’twan’t no ’arthly use 
’count o’ heavy seas a-breakin’ over ’em an’ at 
last they give up and started a paddlin’ their way 
toward the Jctnefs lights what was vis’ble. They 
kep’ at it all night, an’ come momin’, they found 
as they was farther off than before, so knowin’ 
144 


SPINNING YARNS 


they was jus’ usin’ of their strength for nothin’ 
they let her drift. Nex’ mornin’ the wind let up 
a mite an’ the sea went down, an’ the men managed 
somehow to capsize the boat an’ git her back on 
her keel with a hit less water in her, but while 
they was a-doin’ of it, one was drownded. Jes’ 
recollec’ that for forty-eight hours these chaps 
hadn’t had nary a drop o’ water nor a bite to eat 
and had been a-lyin’ in salt water up ter their arm- 
pits and ye can’t blame two more on ’em fer goin’ 
crazy. Demed if ’tain’t a wonder they didn’t all 
go mad. There they was, driftin’ about in the 
middle o’ the Pacific jes’ under the line without 
nothin’ to eat or drink an’ the nearest Ian’, Cocos 
Islart’, more’n a thousan’ miles away. Not one 
o’ the crew was strong enough to pull oar, but 
by workin’ like blazes they managed for to 
tear out the boat’s ceilin’ and lashed it up 
like a sort o’ sail an’ started off afore the 
wind. 

“For seven days they sailed on with nothin’ to 
eat or drink ’cause there wasn’t so much as a 
drop o’ rain fell, an’ all the time under the blazin’ 
sun o’ the ’quator. By that time, things got so 
145 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


bad they begun to draw lots an’ one o’ the men was 
killed an’ t’others eat him up. An’ then, jes’ as 
if Almighty God had a-taken pity on ’em, a shower 
come along an’ give ’em plenty to drink. On the 
eighth day arter being adrift, another man died, but 
nex’ day another shower come along an’ a big 
dolphin flopped right into the boat. Ye can’t tell 
me there ain’t no sech thing as Providence arter 
that, an’ every day arter then a bird’d come so 
dost the men could cotch him, an’ twenty days 
arter leaving of the whale, they sighted the Islan’. 
Gettin’ ashore, they killed a wild pig and they was 
a-dinin’ like kings offen him an’ a eatin’ of coco- 
nuts when the old Leonidas, with Pern Potter 
aboard as cabin boy, run inter the Cocos fer water 
an’ found ’em.” 

“That’s a fine story,” declared Tom. “It does 
seem as if they were saved by a miracle.” 

“Yes, and if any one read it in a book they 
wouldn’t believe it,” added Jim. 

“Tha’s right,” commented one of the New Bed- 
ford boat steerers. “Me, I myself, one time mek 
long row in da whale boat. Mebbe you like hear 
heem, yes?” 


146 


SPINNING YARNS 


“Sure we would,” Jim assured him, “Go on, 
Manuel, and tell us the story.” 

“Alla right,” assented the boat steerer, showing 
his white teeth in a pleased smile. “You know 
heem, da Pedro Varela schooner, no? Well, two, 
three year ago, me, myself, I was boat steerer on 
heem when he mek da cruise for da sperm whale 
een Atlantic. We mek fine cruise an’ fin’ plenty 
whale an’ pretty near fill up down by da islan’s an’ 
da Cap’n he say he think mebbe he strike two, 
three more whale an’ fill up on da way home. So 
he mek da course north an’, sure thing, we fin’ 
da whale jus’ by Bermuda, mebbe leetle way south 
an’ eas’. 

“Oh, boy, I, me myself, tell da worl’, we fin’ 
heem! One day da lookout, he sing out, ‘There 
she blow, an’ da other lookout he sing out same 
leetle minute, ‘There she blow,’ an’ we see ten, 
twelve, one dozen mebbe, blowin’. He on’y three 
boat ship, da Varela, an’ da cap’n an’ mate an’ 
secon’ mate, they all lower. Me, myself, I was 
in da secon’ mate boat an’ got fast da firs’. Long 
time me, myself, I been whalin’ an’ never not een 
my life do I see whale so mad. Oh, boy! Firs’ 
147 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

thing he sound, six hundred fathom he go, two 
line, an’ then he breach so dam queek we no can 
pull in da slack an’ he mill an’ then, Santa Maria! 
He mek off all same like he goin’ for tow us to 
Flores. Never, never, do I see one whale go like 
that. One whole hour he run an’ leetle by leetle 
we draw in an’ then, jus’ when we think we get 
heem, da iron draw an’ we los’ heem. Then we 
look ’roun’ an’ no see da Varela nowhere. No, 
sir, I, me myself, I tell you we los’. Mebbe, we 
think, da Varela fin’ us in da night, so all da night 
we burn lantern lash to da oar an’ stick eet up, 
but da schooner she no come an’ when da day 
come da mate he say, Took like we bes’ row home, 
boys.’ So we eat leetle biscuit an’ drink leetle 
water an’ head nor’wes’ and row all day. Nex’ day 
jus’ da same; eat leetle, leetle biscuit, driijk leetle, 
leetle water an’ row. Third day — ’bout six bell — 
biscuit he all finish an’ water he finish, too. Then 
we feel mighty seek, I myself, I tell da worl’, an’ 
we row an’ row an’ ’bout four bell, mebbe, we 
see smoke. Pretty soon we see da steamer an’ 
come our way an’ we signal an’ he see an’ come 
near. He spik us an’ want tek us aboard, but da 
148 


SPINNING YARNS 

mate he ask heem where he boun’ an’ when he 
say ‘Englan’,’ da mate he ask us eef we want go 
Englan’ an we all say no. So da mate he say we 
not go aboard, but if he give us grub an’ water an’ 
course for New Bedford, we thank heem ve’y much 
and row home. Da skipper of da steamer he say 
we crazy, yes, an’ laf; but he give us plenty grub 
an’ water an’ da course and we eat plenty an’ row 
an’ bimeby we see Gay Head light an’ we mek New 
Bedford.” 

“Gosh!” exclaimed Jim. “You mean you 
rowed a whaleboat all the way from Bermuda to 
New Bedford? How far is it?” 

“Me, I don’ know, mebbe three, four hundred 
mile,” replied Manuel. 

“ ’Bout eight hundred,” volunteered Cap’n Pem. 
“Purty consid’ble of a row, eh?” 

“Shure, ’twas thot!” exclaimed Mike. “B’gorra 
Misther Potter, did yez iver see a sphirit at say?” 

“Nope!” replied the other. “Derned if I hev, 
’ceptin’ in bottles.” 

“Ah, gwan wid yez!” went on the bo’sun. “ ’Tis 
not that kind Oim afther mainin’ at all, at all. An’ 
if yez hasn’t, thin, b’gorra, Give seen somethin’ 
149 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


phwat yez haven’t an’, be the Saints, ’tis a wonder 
ye’ll admit it. Would yez loike to hear about ut, 
b’ys?” 

“Yes, indeed, Mike,” said Tom with interest. 
“Go ahead and tell the yam. I’ll bet it’s a corker.” 

“Will, thin,” began Mike as he stuffed a load of 
tobacco into his pipe. “ ’Oi said ’twas a sphirit, 
but I dunno if ’twas aither — but ’twas somethin’ 
quare an’ sooper-natural-loike. But shure an’ 
Oim gittin’ off me course so Oi’ll ’bout ship an’ be 
afther sthartin’ on a new tack. ’Twas ’bout thirty 
year ago, afore ships wuz a-talkin’ wid woireless, ye 
moind, an’ Oi wuz furrst mate av a wee shmall 
staymer what wuz afther tradin’ ’twixt Cuby an’ 
Noo Yorrk, an’ proud Oi wuz to be a threadin’ the 
bridge wid the best av thim, Oi’ll tell yez. Will, 
wan thrip, phwat did the skipper do but git took wid 
the yaller Jack an’ doi, — may his soul rist in pace. 
An’ b’gob, there Oi wuz, masther av a trim little 
ship as iver wuz. Faith though, ’twas a grrand 
falin’, but with a hape o’ raysponsibility, b’gorra. 
Thin, wan night, Oi was a-sittin’ in me cabin on the 
bridge wid the second mate on watch an’ a thinkin’ 
o’ the foine future Oi’d be afther havin’ — niver 
150 


SPINNING YARNS 


drainin’, b’gob, thot Oi’d iver be afther a-killin’ say 
iliphants in the back o’ beyont — ^bad cess to the 
dhrink, — ^whin all av a suddin Oi sees a figure a- 
sthandin’, or a flyin’, or a floatin’ — faith, Oi dunno 
which — in the air fomist the port bow o’ the ship. 
B’ the Saints! ’Twas drainin’ Oi thought Oi wuz, 
an’ Oi lept up an’ rubbed me ois an’ says Oi to 
mesilf, says Oi, ‘Sure Mike is it sayin’ things ye 
arre or is it not.’ But b’gorra, there she wuz — for 
’twas a woman sphirit she wuz — a floatin’ or a flyin’ 
along an’ a beckonin’ to me wid her arrm. Says Oi 
to the secon’ mate’ say Oi; ‘Misther Thompson,’ 
says Oi, ’will yez look to two p’ints olfen the port 
bow’, says Oi, ‘an’ tell me do yez see annythin’. 
‘Aye Sir,’ says he, ‘Oi see a cloud,’ says he, ‘an’ 
nothin’ more,’ says he. So thin Oi thinks to mesilf; 
’tis a hallo-sue-nation ye’re havin’, think Oi, an’ Oi 
looks the other way an’. Saints presarve me, if there 
wuzn’t the colleen again, an’ as Oi sees her she 
sort o’ flits acrost me bows an’ off to port agin, 
a-beckonin’-loike all the toime. So Oi says to me- 
self, says Oi, ‘Shure Mike, ’tis a predomition ye’re 
afther havin’ or a message o’ some sort an’ the 
spirit’s been sent yez to guide vez.’ So Oi says to 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

the second, says Oi, ‘Mr. Thompson, starboard the 
helm a bit,’ says Oi, an’ as the bow swings to port 
Oi sees the spirit a-swingin’ a bit further ’til me 
bow’s a-headin’ six p’ints off me course, an’ thin 
the spirit sthops movin’ an’ jist floats aisyloike 
over me bow, so Oi says, ‘Steady as she is, Mr. 
Thompson,’ an’ bein’ a good sailorman he niver 
asks why in blazes Oi’m runnin’ off me course 
six p’ints. For two hours we run an’ thin, b’gorra, 
the lookout sings out, ‘Ship afire ahead!’ an’ there, 
plain as the nose on me face, Oi could see the glow 
o’ a bumin’ ship, an’ with that, the spirit disappears 
an’ Oi know she’s been a-guidin’ av me to save 
thim that’s on the bumin’ ship. Full spheed 
ahead, Oi rings, an’ nearer and nearer we comes, 
an’ we kin see the flames o’ the bumin’ ship 
an’ her sphars an’ all. An’ b’gorra, through me 
glasses Oi sees folks a-sthandin’ aft wid the flames 
not twenty fate from thim an’ no boats over at 
all, at all. ’Twas a race fer loife, b’gorra, for 
me staymer was a shakin’ an’ a throbbin’ what 
wid the spade av her fit to bust, an’ the flames 
a-racin’ aft on the barrk. Thin, as I get widin’ 
hailin’ distance, a man sings out that there’s 
152 


SPINNING YARNS 


powder aiboard an’ the hooker’ll he a hlowin’ up 
in a minute more. Shure, an’ may Hivin help 
me, if Oi wuz not in a foine fix! Shure, if Oi wint 
alongside to save the sowls aboard the barrk ’twould 
be loike Oi wud lose me ship, an’ if Oi didn’t 
’twould be nothin’ short o’ murtherin’ the folks 
on the barrk, an diwil a bit o’ toime wuz there to 
be a lowerin’ o’ me boats. ’Twas between the 
diwil an’ the dape say, Oi wuz, wid the diwil 
holdin’ the thrump carrds. But b’jabbers, Oi 
made up me mind an’ do yez know phwat Oi 
did?” 

“No,” cried Tom excitedly. “What did you 
do?” 

“Phwat would yez do, Misther Potter?” queried 
the bo’sun. 

“Demed if I know,” replied Cap’n Pern. “Spit 
it out, ye ol’ sinner, what did ye do?” 

Mike grinned. “Shure,” he replied, “Oi woke 
up!” 

“Dem yer ol’ hide!” exploded Pern. “I’ll 
git one over on ye fer that, bio wed ef I don’t.” 

“Was you ever shipmates along of a mutiny. 
Mister Potter?” asked one of the men, when the 
153 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

merriment over Mike’s joke on Cap’n Pern had 
suhsided. 

‘‘Can’t say as I was,” admitted the old whale- 
man. “Heard lots o’ yams ’bout ’em, though.” 

“Well, I can beat you there,” asserted the other. 
“Cause I was ’board a ship what had a mutiny.” 

“Tell us about that,” begged the boys. 

“Well, ’twasn’t much of a mutiny,” went on the 
man, “but I guess ’twas ’bout the funniest mutiny 
ever was, at that. Manuel, speakin’ ’bout the 
Pedro Varela, minded me of it, ’cause that’s the 
ship ’twas on. 

“I’d shipped as seaman an’ ’thout countin’ me 
an’ my two mates an’ the officers, what was Portu- 
gees, every man was a greenie. ‘All American 
crew, ’ they called it, but I’ll bet my lay ’gainst a 
chew of tobaccer there wasn’t two real Yanks in 
the bunch. Worst set of bums I ever see, an’ not 
casting no reflections on present company. Of- 
ficers couldn’t do nothing at all with ’em — ^never 
did leam the riggin’, even though the Varelas just' 
a fore-an’-aft schooner, — an’ didn’t have enough 
gumption to pull a boat decent. Just the same, 
things went along pretty well an’ we got a little 


SPINNING YARNS 

oil; but along about six weeks out, the men com- 
menced for to get tired of whalin’ an’ wanted to 
get ashore, — grumbled a bit an’ cussed the skipper 
an’ all, but no open complainin’ an’ nothing par- 
ticular to complain about. Then, one morning. 
Chips come runnin’ an’ a cussin’ an’ saying his 
tool box had been stole. Hunted every place, 
but tools had just nat’rally disappeared. Next 
morning, along comes the cooper swearin’ his tools 
an’ the grinstone’d gone. Next morning, ’twas 
the blubber-kettles missin’ an’ by that time things 
begun to look mighty serious an’ funny. Skipper 
had all hands aft, but every man- jack swore he 
didn’t know nothin’ an’ there wasn’t no proof that 
they did. While the Old Man was chinnin’ the 
lookout sighted a whale an’ the skipper left off 
an’ ordered the crew to the boats, an’ what do 
you think happened? Why, bless you! There 
weren’t an iron or lance or fluke-spade or any 
darned thing in any one of the boats. ’Course 
there weren’t no use in lowering, an’ believe me, 
there was some skyhowlin’ rumpus on the old 
Varela when the Portugee skipper let loose. But 
he couldn’t do nothing. There we was, on the 
155 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


high seas a cruisin’ for sperm, an’ not an iron on 
the ship for to get ’em with. An’ when we got 
to searchin’ about we found there weren’t a spade 
or a blubber-hook or a cuttin’ in tackle, neither. 
Of course, we all knew what ’twas. That crew of 
bums had just heaved every darned thing over the 
side long in the night watches an’ knowing if the 
skipper couldn’t catch whales, he’d nat’rally have 
to make port. Well, there weren’t nothing left for 
him to do but make port so, talkin’ something fierce 
in United States and Portugee, he heads for Fayal 
swearin’ to clap every man- jack in irons soon as 
he got there. Worst of it was he blamed every 
mother’s son of us, Yanks as well as the greenies. 
When we made Fayal, there, big as life, was a 
Yankee cruiser an’ soon as we got near, up goes 
a signal for assistance and a say in’ there’s a mutiny 
on board. 

“I dunno whether them navy men was so tickled 
at the fun of the thing or what ’twas, but the up- 
shot was they had us all aboard an’ talked a bit, 
though I knowed they was a bustin’ themselves 
tryin’ not to laff, an’ after a heap of questioning, 
they let all but eight of us loose an’ ironed the 
156 


SPINNING YARNS 


others an’ took ’em home for trial. I was on the 
beach but got a ship after a bit an’ when I got 
back to New Bedford I heard the rest of the story. 
Seemed this ’ere mutiny was a new kind. No 
law’d ever been made to cover it an’ accordin’ 
to law the men hadn’t mutinied — didn’t use vio- 
lence nor threaten nobody nor disobey orders — 
so they couldn’t be charged with mutiny. Then the 
owners tried to get ’em sent up for theft or de- 
stroyin’ property or most anything, but there 
weren’t no proof of nothing, so the judge finally 
sentenced ’em for disorderly conduct an’ they got 
ten days each.” 

“I heerd ’bout that,” commented Cap’n Pern. 
“Wisht they’d been my crew. I’d a-heaved ’em 
over after them fittin’s. Demed if I wouldn’t. 
But look-a-here! It’s a-gittin’ too late ter be a 
yarnin’ with killin’ to begin in the mornin’. All 
ban’s turn in!” 

An hour later, only the protesting croaks of 
sleepy penguins and the distant barks of the sea 
elephants broke the silence that reigned over the 
island. 


CHAPTER X 


LOST 

E arly die next morning, preparations for 
the killing began. Armed with clubs, 
tin pans, flags and pieces of cloth, the 
men made their way along the beach between the 
big herd of elephants and the sea, and took up 
stands at intervals of a few hundred feet apart. 
Then, at a signal from Cap’n Pern, they advanced 
towards the elephants, shouting, hallowing, beat- 
ing on their tins, waving their cloth and flags and 
jumping and prancing about like a lot of savages. 
Frightened and surprised at these strange figures 
advancing towards them, and dazed by the noise 
and fluttering rags, the huge, timid creatures hob- 
bled and wriggled their way up the shingle, wrin- 
kling their noses and barking in terror and stupidly 
getting further and further from their native 
element in their sole desire to keep away from the 
men. Wedged together in a closely-packed mass, 
the giant seals impeded one another’s progress and 
158 


LOST 


added to their terror until, presently, their retreat 
was a wild stampede towards the higher ground 
some distance from the sea. 

It was a strange and remarkable sight to see 
these immense, powerful creatures with their 
strong, sharp teeth striving to escape the men and 
as frightened as a flock of sheep, when any one 
of the monsters could easily have crushed a man’s 
head in his jaws with a single bite. To the boys, 
it seemed pitiful and they were really sorry to 
think of such harmless, splendid creatures being 
thus ruthlessly slaughtered merely for the sake of 
their oil. But their sympathy for the elephants 
was not as great as it would have been had the 
animals appeared more helpless and gentle, for 
despite their timidity, the sea elephants, and es- 
pecially the old bulls, were savage, ferocious- 
looking beasts. Naturally ugly, even when at rest, 
they appeared veritable monsters as their small, 
wicked eyes gleamed red and bloodshot, their 
trunklike snouts lifted above their great red 
mouths, their huge, sharp teeth gleamed and 
snapped and their snarling barks filled the air 
with a deafening roar. 


159 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

Although they had been assured that the ele- 
phants were harmless and had been eye witnesses 
of the fact that the men could walk among them, 
kick them and even kill them without the least 
attempt at resistance on the animals’ part, yet 
neither Tom nor Jim could summon up enough 
courage to approach within reach of the waving, 
threatening heads and snapping jaws. But the 
men had no such fears and when, at last, the herd 
had been driven to the selected spot, they went 
among them, driving the big, full-grown animals 
into small bunches and ruthlessly clubbing them 
over the heads. 

As the killing began and the heavy bludgeons 
thumped on the heads of the elephants, their 
humanlike sighs and screams, their choking, gur- 
gling death coughs and the terrorized barks of 
their fellows were more than the two boys could 
stand. Hurrying from the scene of the slaughter, 
they made their way past the camp and started 
up the hillside beyond. It was hard climbing, for 
the sharp, volcanic rocks made footing uncertain, 
the scant gray moss and lichens and dried stiff 
grass were slippery and the hill was steep. Here 
160 


LOST 


and there, albatrosses were squatting on the ground 
and when the boys approached they merely hissed 
and struck out with their strong, hooked beaks, 
refusing to move. They were such enormous 
birds and appeared so vicious with their china-blue 
eyes and menacing bills, that the boys had no desire 
to get at close quarters in order to see if they had 
eggs; but they soon discovered that by shooing at 
the birds and showing no signs of fear they could 
force the albatrosses from their nests and they were 
greatly elated at sight of the enormous, rough, 
brownish eggs in little hollows of the stony ground. 

Amusing themselves with the albatrosses, and 
taking their time, the boys reached the summit of 
the hill and seated themselves upon a rock ledge 
to rest. From where they sat, they could look 
down upon the camp and the beach and could see 
the men, still busily killing the elephants. But 
the slaughter evidently was nearly over, and 
presently, they saw the men stooping over and 
evidently engaged in stripping the skins and blubber 
from the carcasses. In the other direction, they 
looked down upon a sloping hillside ending in a 
small, bowl-shaped valley which the boys at first 
161 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


sight thought filled with snow; but a second glance 
showed it to be covered with great white birds. 

“I wonder what tliey are,” said Tom. ‘‘They 
don’t look like albatrosses and they’re not penguins. 
Let’s go down and see.” 

Rising, the boys were about to descend when 
their attentions were attracted by peculiar sounds 
apparently issuing from the earth under their feet. 

“What’s that?” ejaculated Jim. “It seems to 
come right out of the ground.” 

Getting on their knees, the boys searched every- 
where among the rocks, expecting to find some 
strange creature in hiding there, but while they 
searched diligently, and although the queer grunt- 
ing sounds continued, they could find no trace of 
any living thing. Puzzled, they stopped hunting and 
listened, placing their ears to the ground, trying to 
trace the sounds, but to no purpose, for the noises 
seemed to come from all about and were so mysteri- 
ous and baffling that the boys began to feel nervous. 

“It’s the weirdest thing I ever heard,” declared 
Tom. “I’m beginning to think the place’s 
haunted.” 

At last, giving it up as a bad job, the two boys 

162 


LOST 


started forward and a moment later clambered 
down over a projecting mass of huge irregular 
rocks. The next instant they stopped short, for 
the baffling sounds came clear and distinct from 
among the rocks. Approaching cautiously, the 
boys peered into the dark cavelike openings and 
the next moment burst into laughter. 

“There’s the ghost,” exclaimed Jim, “I wonder 
what they are.” Far in among the bowlders were 
several snow-white birds with pretty pinkish or 
salmon-colored bills and bright, beady eyes. 
Reaching in his arm, Tom seized one of the crea- 
tures, and despite its protests, drew it out and re- 
vealed two handsome brown eggs where it had 
been sitting. 

^‘Oh, I know now,” declared Tom. “It’s a 
sheathbill, don’t you remember Cap’n Pern pointed 
them out to us at sea. Look, here’s the sheath on 
its bill.” 

Satisfied at having solved the mystery of the 
strange sounds, and having identified the bird, 
the boys released the creature which immediately 
fluttered back to its nest, ruffling its feathers and 
croaking in such an indignant, oflfended way that 
163 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


the boys roared with laughter. Continuing down 
the hill, the boys approached the first of the great 
bird colony in the valley and found they were 
big, white Molly Mokes and another species of 
bird which they had not seen before. 

“They’re some sort of albatrosses,” insisted Tom. 
“But they’re not like the others. They’re smaller 
and have bright yellow beaks and they’re much 
whiter.” 

“Yes, and they’ve greeny-brown eyes instead of 
blue,” added Jim. 

“I’ll bet I know what they are,” Tom announced. 
“I’ve been thinking, and I remember reading about 
a kind of albatross called yellow-nosed. These 
have yellow noses so I’ll bet that’s what they are.” 

It was a strange sensation for the boys to find 
themselves surrounded by countless thousands of 
the big, white birds which showed not the least 
fear, but pecked boldly at the boys’ garments as 
they picked their way among the nesting birds. 

As they gained the farther side of the valley 
they came to a low, rocky ridge, and curious to 
see what lay beyond, they clambered up its side 
and found themselves once more in view of the sea. 
164 


LOST 


“Look at those penguins!” cried Jim, as he 
caught sight of a great flock of the queer birds. 
“Gee, but they’re big fellows!” 

“They’re not like the others,” replied Tom. 
“Say, we are finding a lot of queer things to-day.” 

“And those don’t look like sea elephants on the 
beach either,” said Jim. “They look smaller and 
different, somehow.” 

“I believe you’re right,” agreed Tom. “Let’s 
go down and have a look.” 

As they approached the creatures basking upon 
the shingle, the boys saw that they were indeed very 
different from the huge sea elephants, for they 
were much smaller, they lacked the long snouts 
and their bodies were darker in color and beau- 
tifully spotted. 

“Don’t let’s go too near,” exclaimed Jim. “I 
don’t like their looks.” 

“Oh, don’t be a fraid-cat,” urged Tom. “They 
won’t hurt us. Of course, we won’t go among 
them. I don’t trust them as much as all that.” 

Rather nervously, but anxious to see the odd 
creatures at closer range, the boys walked towards 
the herd of animals and were within a few rods 
165 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS • 


of the nearest when the giant seal suddenly reared 
himself up, opened a huge red mouth filled with 
enormous, sharp-pointed teeth, and with a bellow- 
ing howl threw himself bodily towards the two 
boys. Instantly, with terror-stricken cries, the 
boys turned and fled, never stopping until they 
were well up the hillside. 

“Gosh, but he was fierce!” ejaculated Jim, when 
they regained their breath. “I told you we’d better 
not go near.” 

“You can bet I won’t, next time,” Tom assured 
him. “But they’re no sea elephants anyhow.” 

“Let’s go along the beach and have a look at 
the penguins,” suggested Jim. ‘IWe can keep 
away from those beasts, back here.” 

Giving the fierce, spotted seals a wide berth, 
the two boys descended to the beach and strolled 
towards the penguin colony. Many odd shells and 
other interesting things were scattered on the sand, 
and as the boys stooped to pick some up, they 
noticed many rounded, glittering pebbles. 

“Why, they’re moonstones!” exclaimed Tom, 
“and thousands of them!” 

There was no question of it. The beach was 

166 


LOST 


strewn with the translucent, handsome stones and 
the boys busied themselves filling their pockets 
with the gems. So intent were they, that they 
failed to notice a low, gray cloud about the moun- 
tain top which drifted down towards the shores in 
little wisps and detached masses until, feeling 
chilly, Tom looked up and gave a surprised cry. 
On every side they were surrounded with an im- 
penetrable, dense fog and only a small area of 
the beach about them was visible. 

Seaward they could see the lazy, green rollers 
coming mysteriously from a gray bank. They 
could hear the muffled cries of birds and the 
occasional flapping of wings; but not a sign 
of the hill or of the mountains could be 
seen. 

‘‘Gosh, we’d better be getting back!” exclaimed 
Jim anxiously. “It’s getting thicker every 
minute.” 

Hurrying from the beach, they commenced 
climbing the hill, but long before they reached the 
summit the beach and waves were hidden from 
view and the boys seemed shut in as if by a 
soft, gray wall. 


167 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“We’ll have to be careful or we’ll get lost,” 
cautioned Tom. “We should have brought a 
compass.” 

“What good would that do?” demanded Jim. 
“We don’t know what direction the camp is.” 

^‘No, but we could be sure we were not moving in 
a circle,” explained Tom sagely. “But come 
along, we can find that Molly Moke rookery and 
then go up the hill and find the cave where the 
sheathbills are and go straight down from there.” 

Striving to keep a straight course by listening 
to the breaking seas at their backs, the boys picked 
their way over the ridge, and descending the 
further side, were overjoyed to find themselves 
among the nesting Molly Mokes. 

“We’re all right now!” said Tom confidently. 
“If we walk straight across and up the hill to 
the cave we can’t go wrong. Why, I don’t believe 
we went over half a mile from camp anyway.” 

Shut in by the dense fog, the boys could hear 
the disturbed cries of the thousands of birds about 
them, but the birds themselves were only visible 
when within a few feet and even then they had 
a strange, ghostly appearance. Several times the 
168 


LOST 


boys actually bumped into them, and they were 
constantly compelled to turn to right or left to 
avoid stepping on the birds. But at last, they 
reached the scattered, outlying nests and found the 
ground rising before them. 

“Funny, this hill doesn’t seem half as long as 
it did before,” commented Jim as they gained the 
summit. “Say, listen! What’s that?” 

For a moment the two paused, straining their 
ears to catch a faint sound that issued from the 
fog ahead. And then, as the truth dawned upon 
them, they gazed at each other in dismay. The 
noise was the breaking waves. They were back 
at the spot from which they had started. They 
had walked in a circle and were lost! Presently, 
however, as they recovered from the disappoint- 
ment and shock of ttheir discovery, their con- 
fidence returned. 

“We’ll have to try again,” declared Tom. 
“We must have got turned around among those 
Molly Mokes. I’ve a scheme, Jimmy. When we 
get there this time, we’ll separate a little and one 
of us will walk ahead a few yards and then stop, 
and then the other can walk straight to him and 
169 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


then stop and the other can go on ahead as far as he 
can be seen and stop and in that way we might 
he able to go pretty straight. Anyway, we won’t 
go in a circle.” 

“That may help,” admitted Jim, “but we’ll have 
to kick the birds out of the way to do it.” 

“Bother the birds!” ejaculated Tom. “We’ve 
got to get to camp.” 

“I wonder how long fogs last here,” said Jim 
as once more they made their way up the ridge. 
“Perhaps if we just waited a while it would 
lift.” 

“I don’t know,” replied the other, “but I heard 
Cap’n Pern say that sometimes the island’s foggy 
for weeks at a time.” 

Once again they reached the Molly Moke 
rookery and at once proceeded to put Tom’s plan 
into practice. By shoving the birds out of their 
path and ruthlessly trampling on the eggs, the boys 
made their way across the valley in a fairly direct 
line; but as they gained the slope of the hill a 
sudden misgiving seized Jim. 

“Say, Tom,” he exclaimed, “how do we know 
we’ve crossed in the right direction? Don’t you 
170 


LOST 


remember the hill went all around the valley — 
it was like a big bowl — and we may be on the 
opposite side from where we came down.” 

“We can’t help that,” stated Tom. “When we 
get to the top we’ll mark the spot and walk to 
the right ’til we find the sheathbills’ cave and if 
we don’t find it, we’ll come back and try to the 
left.” 

Toiling up the hillside, panting with the exer- 
tion and soaked to the skin by the clinging mois- 
ture, the two boys at last reached the summit. 

“Perhaps they’d hear us in camp if we yelled,” 
suggested Jim. 

But their cries seemed muffled in the fog and 
no answering call came to them, so, piling several 
stones in a little pyramid, the two turned to the 
right and carefully picked their way along the 
rocky ridge. 

“We didn’t come over at this place, I know,” 
said Jim decisively as they came to a jagged, up- 
standing mass of rock. 

“No,” admitted Tom. “but it may have been 
just a little to one side of the place where we did 
cross. Come along.” 


171 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


In order to pass the ledge, the two boys were 
compelled to descend a short distance on the hill 
and so dense was the fog on the summit that the 
rocks disappeared from sight ere they had taken 
a dozen steps. Judging that they passed the ob- 
struction, they once more turned up the slope and 
tramped on, hoping each moment that they would 
be in luck and would come upon the pile of 
bowlders where they had discovered the sheathbills. 

“Say, we must have been way off our course,” 
panted Jim at last. “We’ve been walking for half 
an hour and seems to me we’re going down hill.” 

“I thought that too,” replied Tom, “but I guess 
it’s just the effect of the fog.” 

For ten minutes more, the boys continued and 
then, coming to a mass of fallen rock, they found 
further progress barred by a bold perpendicular 
cliff. 

“Well, we can’t go any further,” observed Tom. 
“Now we’ll have to go back and try the other 
direction.” 

“I’m going to rest first,” insisted Jim. “There’s 
no use in getting all tired out.” 

Seating themselves upon a piece of rock, the 
172 


LOST 


boys were talking over their predicament when, 
suddenly, there was a cracking sound. The boys 
felt their seat moving and leaped aside as the mass 
of rock gave way and went crashing down the hill. 
But while the boys had saved themselves from an 
injury, yet they had not saved themselves from a 
tumble, and as they jumped from the rock their 
feet shot out from under them and rolling and 
sliding, they followed after the stone for a dozen 
rods before they could check their headlong 
course. 

At the same instant they heard a tremendous 
crash from below followed by a shout: 

“Hi, there! What’n tarnation’s broke loose? 
Demed ef the whole mounting ain’t a-tumbling 
down!” 

With wild yells the boys leaped to their feet, and 
regardless of danger, raced down the hillside. 
Before they had covered a hundred feet they 
reached level ground and plumped full into Cap’n 
Pern, bowling the old man over like a ninepin. 

“Avast there!” spluttered the old whaleman. 
“What in thunderation’s up? Fust a chunk o’ 
mounting an’ then you two scallawags! What in 
173 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

Sam Hill ye in sech a hurry fer? Bear a chasin’ 
on ye?” 

‘‘No,” stammered Tom. “We were lost. 
Where are we?” 

“Where be ye?” reiterated the old man. 
“Where be ye? Why, right ’longside o’ the shack 
a course. Where’d ye think ye wuz? Demed 
queer way ye have o’ cornin’ home!” 


CHAPTER XI 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 

T he boys actually had tumbled into camp 
from the hill behind the shack, and they 
joined heartily in the laughter of the men, 
when they related their story of being lost in the 
fog. 

‘‘Shure, an’ Oi wuz a-sayin’ to Misther Potter 
that maybe yez was lost,” Mike affirmed, “an’ 
’twas meself what wuz for goin’ afther yez if yez 
didn’t turm up soon.” 

“Gid out!” jeered Cap’n Pern. “Ye’d be a 
fine one ter go gawallupin’ over these ’ere hills 
with that there wooden lig o’ youm. Know’d the 
boys ’ud git in ship-shape.” 

“B’gorra thin, Oi could do as well as yez at 
anny rate,” insisted Mike. 

Cap’n Pern snorted, but forbore a retort and 
warned the boys against taking any risks in the 
future. 

“Don’t ye never go off without a-takin’ a gun 

175 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


an’ a compass,” lie commanded them. ‘‘An’ ef 
ye go out o’ sight o’ camp, mind ye watch the 
way ye’re a-goin’ of. ’Tain’t no jokin’ matter ter 
git lost here. It’s a heap bigger islan’ than ye 
think an’ fog’s li’ble ter come on any time.” 

When the boys told of their experience with 
the big seal-like creatures, Cap’n Pern laughed up- 
roariously. 

“Them’s sea leopards,” he told them. “Lucky 
ye didn’t git too dost, they ain’t like these ’ere 
elephants. Bite ye quicker’n Jack Robinson, ’bout 
as fierce as a lion an’ mighty touchy too.” 

“Aren’t they good for anything?” asked Tom. 
“Do you ever kill them?” 

“Hides is wuth somethin’,” replied the old man, 
“but ain’t got enough blubber ter make ’em wuth 
the danger o’ killin’ of ’em. Time was, when we 
used fer to hunt ’em an’ fur-seals, too. But ’ain’t 
nothin’ in it now, with elephant ’ile so high.” 

Cap’n Pern also explained that the big penguins 
they had seen were King Penguins and that the 
moonstones, though pretty, had little value. 

“Whole beaches on ’em over ter Kerguelan,” 
he told them. “Took up derned nigh a bucket full 
176 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


on ’em one trip. Couldn’t sell ’em fer ’nough ter 
keep me in terbaccy. Guv ’em all ter the wimmin 
folks.” 

Boiling was going on when the boys reached 
camp, and after eating, for they were ravenously 
hungry, they watched the operation for some time 
and then made their way towards the spot where 
the men were stripping the blubber from the last 
of the dead elephants. Everywhere, the enormous 
raw carcasses were scattered about, and, almost 
hiding them from sight, were thousands of alba- 
trosses, Molly Mokes and other sea birds, scream- 
ing and quarreling over the feast and tearing the 
flesh from the bones with their powerful bills. 
So bold were the birds that they frequently swooped 
down and attempted to carry off pieces of blubber 
under the noses of the working men and one man 
constantly was kept busy shoo!ing and beating 
them off. 

“Wouldn’t they clear out if you shot some of 
them?” inquired Tom. 

“Yep, I expect they would,” replied a boat 
steerer, “but we need ’em an’ don’t want to drive 
What’d we do with all them there dead 
177 


away. 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


elephants if ’twan’t fer them birds? Why, they’d 
smell so ye couldn’t live on the islan’, an’ a 
breedin’ plague.” 

“Do you mean the birds will eat them all up?” 
asked Jim in surprise. 

“Sure thing,” declared the sailor, “less’an a 
couple o’ days there won’t be nothin’ but bones 
left.” 

The boys could scarcely believe that the birds 
could completely devour the mountains of flesh 
before them, but long before the expiration of 
the two days only the clean picked bones of the 
elephants marked the scene of their slaughter. 

As it was light through the night, the work of 
boiling was carried on unceasingly, the men work- 
ing in watches or shifts, as on board ship, and 
by the second day they were ready for another 
drive and kill. 

Although practically all the large elephants had 
been slaughtered the first day, yet there seemed to 
be no decrease in the numbers which came up the 
seashore daily, and the second killing was even 
larger than the first. Cap’n Pern and the men 
were elated, for the great number of elephants 
178 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


argued well for a full cargo of oil, and the old 
whaleman couldn’t say enough in praise of the 
policy of the British government in having re- 
stricted the killing and extermination of the crea- 
tures. 

‘Xas’ time I was here,” he informed them, 
‘‘they’d got so pesky skeerce ye couldn’t make a 
kill o’ a dozen a week an’ now look at ’em. 
Jes’ a crowdin’ o’ thersel’s up, a-waitin’ ter be 
killed. Looks like as though they ac’t’ally enj’yed 
it.” 

Not forgetting Cap’n Pern’s injunction regard- 
ing gun and compass, and usually carrying a lunch 
with them, the boys spent their days wandering 
over the hills, exploring the island, gathering eggs 
from the more remote bird colonies, so as not to 
frighten away the scavengers near camp, and hav- 
ing a glorious time by themselves. They had 
discovered several small ponds among the more 
distant hills and here, to their surprise, they found 
a number of small teal-like ducks. These proved 
excellent eating and a most welcome change in 
the camp diet and the boys made almost daily 
visits to the place. On another occasion, they had 
179 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


found a rookery of the Antarctic fur seals and 
spent hours watching the big, gentle-eyed creatures 
frolicking and playing about. Twice too, they 
had clambered far up the mountain side and had 
gazed forth upon the vast panorama that iwas 
stretched beneath them. Rugged and gray, their 
own island spread itself below their feet, and on 
the horizon — some visible across lanes of gray sea 
that from the height seemed narrow, others but 
hazy clouds against the sky and others only dis- 
tinguishable by their lofty peaks — were many other 
islands of the group. The boys, who had spent 
hours poring over charts of the Antarctic, knew 
many of them by name, such as Governor Living- 
ston, Scotts, Clarence and Deception. The latter 
was the island to which the Hector had gone and 
the boys spent much time in speculation as to the 
success the men were having there and how soon 
the bark would return. 

But best of all, the boys loved to visit the rook- 
eries of albatrosses, penguins and Molly Mokes 
that by now were filled with ungainly, grotesque 
and mirth-provoking fledglings. 

It was while they were on their way to one of 

180 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


these, several weeks after their adventure in the 
fog, that the boys saw a big Wandering Albatross 
acting in a most peculiar and unusual manner. 
The bird was standing upon a pile of rocks and 
was spreading and flapping his enormous wings 
as if trying to fly, but he would rise only a few 
feet above the ground before he again dropped 
back. Then he would reach down, peck at some- 
thing in the rocks as though feeding, and again 
flap into the air for a short distance again to 
repeat the whole performance. 

‘‘What do you suppose he’s doing?” asked Tom 
in puzzled tones. “He acts as if he’d found some- 
thing and couldn’t make up his mind to leave it.” 

“Come along and see,” suggested Jim, and curi- 
ous to know the reason for the big bird’s actions, 
the two turned aside and clambered over the rock- 
strewn hillside towards the albatross. 

Much to the boys’ surprise, he apparently paid 
little heed to their approach, but continued his 
remarkable behavior until they were within a few 
yards. Then, to their amazement, they saw that 
the bird was fastened to the rocks by a piece of 
rope or line. 


181 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“Why, he’s tied down!” exclaimed Jim. “I 
wonder who did that.” 

“I can’t imagine,” replied Tom. “But it’s a 
shame! He’ll just beat himself to pieces, or die 
of thirst and starvation. Come on, let’s untie 
him.” 

But to release the bird was more of an under- 
taking than they bargained for. Every time the 
boys tried to approach, he would strike viciously 
with his enormously powerful wings, hiss like a 
gigantic snake and lunge savage, snapping thrusts 
with his strong, hooked beak. 

“Gee, he is ugly!” cried Tom. “I’ve half a 
mind to leave him.” 

But having once determined to free the bird, the 
two were not to be worsted so easily. Taking off 
their coats, and with Tom holding his sheath knife 
ready, the two boys made a sudden dash at the 
albatross, and while Jim threw his jacket around 
the bird’s head and held his neck, Tom protected 
his head from the blows of the wings, and stoop- 
ing quickly, cut the line. Then, leaping back, 
they watched the great bird as he flapped upwards 
with cries of triumph and sailed off out of sight. 

182 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


“Ungrateful old brute!” laughed Jim. “Acts 
as tickled as if he’d got loose all by himself.” 

“I wonder what he was tied to,” put in Tom. 
“Hello! Look here, Jim!” Reaching down in a 
crevice of the rocks, Tom drew out a bundle, or 
roll of frayed and weather-beaten tarred canvas 
attached to the stout, hemp lead-line which had 
bound the albatross. 

“Well, that beats all!” exclaimed Jim as the two 
boys examined the package curiously. “It must 
have been tied to the bird’s leg and got wedged 
between the rocks when he alighted. What do 
you suppose it is!” 

“Search me!” replied the other. “Let’s open 
it and see.” 

Drawing his knife, Tom proceeded to slash 
through the rope that was wrapped and tied about 
the bundle and then commenced to rip out 
the tightly drawn stitches with which it was 
sewn. 

“Whoever sewed this didn’t intend it to get 
away in a hurry,” he remarked as the first layer 
of heavy canvas fell back and disclosed another 
beneath it. 


183 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“Reminds me of the pill-boxes the druggists 
have,” supplied Jim. “Just one inside of another 
right down to a tiny one. Perhaps that’s all this 

is. ” 

“Nobody’d take the trouble to sew it all up and 
tie it to a bird’s leg unless ’twas something im- 
portant,” declared Tom decisively. “I’ll bet 
there’s something mighty interesting in it.” 

Two more layers of canvas were removed, and 
as the last was pulled away, the boys saw a brass 
tube, or cylindrical box, with both ends stopped 
with wood. 

“That’s a funny looking thing,” commented Tom 
as he turned it about. “Looks like a — gee, I 
know what ’tis! It’s part of a telescope.” 

“Perhaps there’s something in it,” Jim suggested 
excitedly. “Open it and see.” 

After some difficulty, Tom pried out one of the 
wooden plugs and tipped up the cylinder, but 
nothing dropped out. Then, as he peered within 

it, he cried out, “Gosh! There is something in 
there.” 

Inserting his finger in the tube, while the nerves 
of both boys tingled with expectancy, Tom drew 
184 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


out a roll of some crinkled, whitish-yellow material 
which they thought, at first, was paper. 

“Hurrah! It’s a message!” shouted Jim. 
“Gee, we’re in luck!” 

Spreading the parchment on a smooth rock, the 
two boys studied the indistinct characters upon it, 
but for some time could make nothing of them. 
Gradually, however, they began to recognize 
letters, and slowly and with much hesitation and 
difficulty spelled out the following: 

“Two hoo shal fine these leter for God sak save 
mee. i am reckt on a illan west off elyfant illan 
in the soth shetlans yu kan tel the won by too piks 
stikin up on the eas end i am seemans off the 
brig ellen of st Helena we was kroosin an see 
a worship she was a gurman an sink us an fir 
on the botes i was hit an wen i cum two i seen- 
nothin I drifted a long tyme an most starf an dye 
of thurst wen I seen Ian i no it was the soth shet- 
lans cuss i bin theyre bfour too kil elyfonts mi 
hot drift one these ilant an I find a ole hut I bin 
her long tym an I am sik mi wun want heel i muss 
dy if non resku me I amm goin two ty this to a 
185 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


allybtros whut i haf cot mae god dyrect it too sum 
crishun an knot two a hun. yurs respekfuli 

“Sam Holt 

“p. S. i think this is disemper but I do not sur i los 
trak ov tym wile i byn sik.” 

For an instant, the two boys sat speechless, ab- 
solutely dumbfounded at the story disclosed by the 
parchment so miraculously secured. 

“Gosh, he’s right near here!” cried Tom, at last. 
“Say, we^’ve got to hustle down and tell Gap’n Pern. 
Perhaps we can rescue him!” 

Dashing as fast as they could over the rough 
ground, risking broken bones and bruises, for- 
getting all except to tell the old whaleman of their 
discovery, the two boys jumped, leaped, scrambled 
and ran, until, breathless and exhausted, they 
rushed into camp and hurled themselves on the 
old man. 

“Gosh all mackerel!” ejaculated Cap’n Pern. 
“What’n tarnation’s up now? Seed a ghos’?” 

“Oh, Cap’n Pern!” panted Tom. “We found a 
message — a letter — ^there’s a man — shipwrecked 
— on an island.” 


186 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


“West of here!” Jim went on as Tom paused 
for breath. “See, here’s the message — found it 
on an albatross. Can’t we save him?” 

“What?” ejaculated Cap’n Pern, while a number 
of the men gathered about attracted by the boys’ 
excitement. “What’s that ye’re a sayin’? Man 
shipwrecked? Found a message on a albatross, 
eh? Blow me ef ’tisn’t!” 

Then, having recovered themselves, the two boys 
rapidly told their story, while the old whaleman 
studied the message. 

“B’gosh!” exclaimed Mike, “ ’tis a missage all 
right, all right. Shure, b’ys, we’ll be afther a 
rescuin’ av him.” 

“Derned if we won’t!” cried Pern. “Nobody 
can’t say as any Yankee whaleman ever lef’ a 
shipwracked mate fer to die ’slong’s he could help 
it. Dern them Germans’ hides! Wisht I could 
git at ’em! Here you, Mike, call all ban’s! I’m 
a goin’ fer to ask fer volunteers. An’ git the boat 
ready fer the v’yge. Stow away ’nough grub an’ 
water fer a week an’ med’cines an’ grog, an’ clo’s 
an’ blankets. Like as not thet there feller ain’t 
got none.” 


187 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


Then, as Mike stumped off to carry out his 
orders, Pern bustled about, giving directions, leav- 
ing orders as to work to be done while the boat 
was away, and between times, cursing the Germans 
with quaint oaths. 

“Reckon like as not he’s died long ago,” he 
muttered half to himself. “No knowin’ when he 
writ thet letter.” 

“But it says December,” Tom reminded him. 
“And this is only the second week.” 

“Yep, I knows it,” replied the whaleman. “But 
he says he ain’t no ways sure an he don’ say what 
December. Like as not ’twas las’ year or year 
afore. ’Spect we’ll have all our trouble fer 
nothin’.” 

Then, addressing the men who had gathered 
about, Cap’n Pern told the story of the boys’ find 
in a few terse words and called for volunteers to 
make the trip. Every hand went up instantly. 

“Bile me ef I didn’t know ’twould be thet way!” 
cried the mate. “Might as well saved myself the 
trouble. Got to pick ye out, anyway!” 

Hurriedly running his eyes over the men, he 
picked four of the strongest and best, and all men 
188 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


from New Bedford. Then, after a moment’s hesita- 
tion, he turned to the one-eyed man, Ned. 

^‘Here, you!” he snapped out. “You’ve been 
a sojer. Know anythin’ ’bout doctorin’?” 

“Yes, sir, a little, sir,” replied Ned respectfully. 
“I was in the field hospital over there, for a time, 
sir.” 

“Thought so!” ejaculated the mate. “All right, 
come on, men, git a move on!” 

“But can’t we go?” cried Tom. 

“Nope, no place fer youngsters.” Then, as he 
noticed the crestfallen look on the boys’ faces, he 
suddenly relented. 

“Oh, blow me! All right!” he burst out. 
“Hadn’t been fer ye we wouldn’t a-been a-goin’. 
Reckon ye gotta right ter go. Come along!” 

To the accompaniment of lusty cheers from the 
men, the boat was pushed off, the five oars took 
the water, and with a “Give way boys!” from Cap’n 
Pern, the rescuers headed for the open sea. 
Straining at their oars as though they were going 
on a whale, the men fairly lifted the speedy whale- 
boat through the water, while, in the stern, Cap’n 
Pern stood grasping the huge steering oar and ever 
189 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


and anon urging his crew to even greater efforts. 
Rapidly the beach was left behind, and swinging 
the boat to the westward and rounding a project- 
ing, rocky point, the old whaleman steered a course 
for the hazy outlines of a distant island. 

“Reckon thet’s the one,” he remarked. “ Tears 
to me I recollec’ them there needles. Used ter 
call ’em the donkey’s ears.” 

For hour after hour the boat sped on. Elephant 
Island grew dim in the distance and more and more 
distinct became the island ahead. Gradually, 
from the mist it took form and shape. The boys 
could see the rugged, central volcanic cone; little 
by little the lower slopes became visible, and at 
last, Tom gave a shout of joy, for looming up 
from the sea at one end of the island were two 
steep-sided, conical peaks. 

“Thar she be!” announced old Pern. “Give 
way, lads! If that poor lad’s a livin’ he’ll likely 
be a sightin’ of us purty quick.” 

Half an hour later, the island loomed close 
ahead and the boys strained their eyes in an effort 
to make out the hut in which the castaway had lived. 
But not until they were within half a mile of the 
190 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


shore did they see it; a little, tumble-down shanty 
of gray, weather-beaten boards and ragged flap- 
ping sail-cloth tucked into a corner of the rocks 
and so nearly like them in color that it was scarcely 
distinguishable. But search the beach and rocks 
as they would, they could see no sign of life, and 
their spirits fell, for all began to fear that they 
had arrived too late, that the bleaching bones of 
the wounded castaway would be all that they would 
find. Running their boat upon the shingle, the 
crew leaped out, and led by Cap’n Pern, hurried 
towards the house, hallooing as they went. Then, 
when within a score of paces from the hut, a crazy, 
makeshift door swung open and a man stepped 
forth. And at sight of him, every one stopped 
short and gazed in amazement. The man was a 
gray-headed, coal-black negro with a wooden leg! 

‘TTl be everlastin’ly dumbswizzled!” burst out 
Cap’n Pern. ‘‘Derned ef we ain’t shipped another 
peg-leg!” 

The next instant the old negro rushed forward 
and threw himself upon the beach groveling at 
Pern’s feet. 

“Hi, there! Git up!” cried the whaleman. “We 

191 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


ain’t no Saints! Jes’ o’nary whalemen. How 
be ye anyhow? Reckon we’re in time, eh? 
Feared we’d fin’ ye dead an’ gone.” 

With tears of emotion trickling over his emaci- 
ated, ebon cheeks, and with wildly rolling eyes 
and in broken tones, the negro poured out in- 
coherent thanks and blessings and was so over- 
come that two of the men were obliged to carry 
him bodily into the shack. Here, on an impro- 
vised couch of moss, dried steaweed and bird 
skins the castaway was placed, and Cap’n Pern 
hurriedly poured a stiff draft of whiskey down 
his throat while Ned and the men quickly kindled 
a fire and proceeded to heat coffee and tinned 
soup. Between the liquor and the steaming food 
the old negro quickly revived and managed to 
control his emotions somewhat. Cap’n Pern told 
him how they had learned of his plight, but by 
Ned’s command he was not permitted to talk; al- 
though all were filled with curiosity to learn his 
story, and the castaway was compelled to content 
himself with muttering, “Thank de Lord A’mighty! 
De Lord shure does watch over his pore sinners! 
Oh, Lor’ is I save’ at las’!” 

192 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


‘‘Doc,” Ned, as the men called him, declared that 
the castaway was in no condition to be moved and 
that he must have several days of rest and good 
feeding before undertaking the trip in the open 
boat. The wound of which he had spoken in 
his message, had partly healed, but he was very 
weak from suffering and lack of food and now 
that he was rescued he seemed quite content to 
lie still and be nursed back to health and strength. 
Gradually too, he told them of his life upon the 
island: how he had managed to eke out a living 
by catching crabs and shellfish, and later on by 
albatross and penguin eggs; and how he had cap- 
tured the albatross and had utilized a broken tele- 
scope which he had found in the hut as a box or 
container for the message. 

“How did you happen to think of sending the 
message that way, Sam?” asked Tom. “There 
wasn’t one chance in a million that any one would 
find it.” 

“I seed a ship a-sailin’ away fra El’funt Islan’,” 
replied the negro, “an’ I knows as how she must’a’ 
lef’ men there an’ I knows as how these albatrosses 
do smell dead meat for a pow’ful long ways, 
193 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


an’ I thinks like as not if you was a killin’ the 
el’funts this ol’ bird mought go over yander for 
de food an’ some man mought see the canvas 
a-danglin’ from he laig an’ cotch he; an’ praise 
the Lord A’mighty, you did.” 

Cap’n Pern was anxious to return to the camp 
as soon as possible and fumed and grumbled, 
although ‘‘Doc” Ned declared that three days 
should be enough rest for Sam with the good care 
he was receiving. But when the third day came, 
a gale was blowing and lashing the sea to fury 
and departure was impossible. 

“Ding-bust the weather!” exploded Cap’n Pern, 
when on the next day, the gale still howled about 
the shack and cold rain and sleet beat like shrapnel 
on its roof. “Didn’t I tell ye we’d have bad luck, 
— alter that there bo’sun bird come aboard! 
Wouldn’t be s’prised ef this ’ere dumfoozled sto’m 
lasted all summer. Reckon we’ll be shipwracked 
oursel’s here!” 

“But we haven’t had bad luck,<” Jim reminded 
him. “/ think we’ve had mighty good luck, to 
get that message and save Sam.” 

“Hadn’t begun, then,” contended the whaleman. 

194 


A STRANGE MESSAGE 


‘‘Got ter have a beginnin’ sometime. Bet ye we 
gets wuss an’ wusser from now on.” 

But despite Cap’n Pern’s dismal forebodings, 
the next day was fine, the gale had blown itself 
out, and while the seas still ran mountain high, 
they were rapidly decreasing. Two days later 
Cap’n Pern declared the sea had moderated enough 
to set out and with one of the men helping Sam 
— for he was still weak — the party launched the 
boat and headed for Elephant Island. It was hard 
pulling against the head sea and as there was no 
favorable wind, the sail could not be used and the 
men strained and sweated at their heavy oars. 
But gradually the little island faded into the dis- 
tance and each moment Elephant Island loomed 
nearer and plainer ahead. At last they gained the 
lee of the land, and keeping close inshore, pulled 
towards the outstanding cliffs which concealed 
the harbor. As the boat came abreast of the 
point the spars of a ship came suddenly into 
view. 

‘‘Hurrah! The Hector’s back!” cried Tom. 

“Demed if she is!” exclaimed Cap’n Pern. 
“That’s a brig. I’ll — ” but his sentence was 
195 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

never finished. From the direction of the shore 
came the sounds of a volley of gun shots. 

“What’n tarnation.” roared the old whaleman. 
“Give way, lads! Lift her! Fightin’s broke loose 
yonder!” 


CHAPTER XII 


THE RAIDERS 

M eanwhile, upon Elephant island, 
things had not been going well. For 
the first two days after the departure of 
Cap’n Pern and his boat, the work of killing and 
boiling had gone on as usual, although on a 
smaller scale owing to the lack of men. Then, on 
the third day came the terrific storm which had 
prevented the rescuing party from returning. 
Within a few hours after the screeching, howling 
gale had first burst upon the island, the flimsy 
shacks, erected for summer weather, had been 
completely wrecked; the tremendous seas had 
swept far up the beach and had carried away the 
try-works and had smashed and broached many of 
the casks of oil, and Mike and his men had been 
compelled to perform Herculean labors to save 
anything from the fury of the tempest. 

By dint of incredible exertions they had man- 
aged to construct a rude shelter from the wreckage 
197 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


and had saved the rest of the oil and most of the 
supplies; but when the storm finally abated, the 
drenched, tired and shivering men looked upon a 
scene of desolation. The beach was littered with 
staved casks, boards, boxes and ruined supplies. 
Masses of wave-driven kelp and flotsam were piled 
high where the try- works had stood ; the planks and 
canvas of the hut were scattered about and not 
a sea elephant was in sight. 

Mike shook his head as he surveyed the dev- 
astated camp. “B’gorra!” he exclaimed. ‘‘Faith 
an’ ’tis the doin’s o’ the bo’sun burrd — ^bad cess 
to him! An’ be the same token ’tis worrit Oi am 
over Misther Potter an’ thim others. Foive days 
now, an’ divvil a soign av thim. Beloike an’ they 
wuz caught in the big wind, ’tis dead they be.” 

“Mister Potter, he put da grub an’ da water 
for week,'” Manuel reminded him. 

“Shure ’tis thrue ye’re sp’akin’ Manny,” replied 
Mike in relieved tones, “an Oim a blessed phool 
fer thinkin’ Misther Potter’s a Ian!’ lubber for to 
be a-sthartin’ out in the tathe av a storrm. Faith 
though, but ’twill be a sorrer sight for thim to 
say whin they come. An’ not a say iliphant in 
198 


THE RAIDERS 


sight. B’ Saint Pathrick Oi belave the storrm’s 
afther drowndin’ av thim all.^’ 

Then, ordering his men to pick up everything 
they could and to endeavor to get some order out 
of chaos, the bo’sun with the cook and one man 
turned to the demolished hut and endeavored to 
rebuild it so it would be fit for occupancy when 
the boat returned. They were still busily engaged 
at this two days later when a shout from one of 
the men interrupted them, and gazing seaward they 
saw a sail above the horizon. For a time they 
could not determine whether it was approaching 
or not, but it was a square-rigged vessel beyond 
a doubt and when, after half an hour of steadfast 
watching through the glasses, Mike knew that it 
was heading towards the island, he shouted, ‘‘B’ 
gorra, lads, ’tis the Hector! Shure she’s ahid o’ 
toime a wake an’ more. ’Tis good luck she must’a’ 
been afther havin’. Three cheers, me hearties! 
’Tis homeward boun’ we’ll be to-morrer!” 

But scarcely had the three hearty cheers died 
down when MikeS’s countenance fell, for through 
the binoculars he could now see that it was not 
the Hector but a brigantine. 

199 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


‘‘Worra be!” he bemoaned. “ ’Tis disap- 
p’intment, me lads! ’Tis a brig b’gorra! Now 
phwat does he want here, at all, at all?” 

Rapidly the oncoming vessel approached and 
presently all could see that it was a small brigan- 
tine and by her build and rig they knew it was 
not an American ship. 

“Phwat in blazes arre the furriners a-buttiri’ in 
here fer!” demanded Mike and, addressing no one 
in particular, “Shure ’tis throuble enough we’re 
afther havin’ av our own. An’ if it’s afther say 
iliphants they be, ’tis none they’ll be foindin’, an’ 
if they wuz ’tis divvil a bit Oi’d be afther lettin’ 
av thim sthop here. B’gob, ain’t they islan’s 
enough an’ to sphare widtout a callin’ on us wid 
no invetashun?” 

Curious as to why the stranger should be making 
for the island, for she flew no signals, the men 
had ceased their work and stood gathered near 
the hut watching the brig. 

“Mebbe he come for get da ’ile,” suggested 
Manuel. “Eef he see we here firs’, mos’ like he 
go da other islan!’.” 

“Faith an’ he will, thot!” declared Mike. “ ’Tis 

200 


THE RAIDERS 


two’s a crowd here. Well b’ jabbers we’ll soon be 
afther knowin’. He’s dhroppin’ av his anchor.” 

Hardly had the brig swung to her anchor before 
a boat was lowered and manned, and six men came 
rapidly shoreward. 

As it neared the beach, Mike stepped forward, 
and followed by two or three of his men, stumped 
down to the water’s edge. 

‘^Shure an’ what moight it bay that ye’re wantin’ 
here?” he demanded as the boat’s keel grated on 
the beach. 

The steersman, — a huge, raw boned mulatto in 
ragged, dirty clothes and with a great livid scar on 
one cheek, looked the bo’sun over contemptuously 
and his mouth widened in a twisted smile, dis- 
closing broken, yellow fangs. 

“Whadda matter wi’ you, Pat?” he replied in- 
solently. 

Mike grew purple and his gray whiskers bristled. 

‘‘Kape a civil tongue in yer head, ye dhirty 
nagur!” he fairly roared. “B’the Saints, if yez 
is a-lookin’ fer throuble yez’ll be afther foindin’ 
it widout lookin’ far, ye spade-faced, mud-colored, 
bilge-rat!” 


201 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


‘‘Haa!” sneered the other. “Da Irish no like 
da vees’tor, eh? He no mek welcom*'’ da other 
fellas. Hmm! Eet look laik you have pretty 
good luck already. Plenty kill an’ b’il down an’ 
plenty ’ile mek an’ in cask. Hmm! You tink you 
owna dis islan’, Micky ?’^ 

Fairly bursting with rage at the man’s insolence 
and manner, Mike took a stride forward with 
doubled fists, but one of the boat’s crew rose to 
his feet, swung his huge oar and aimed a crashing 
blow at the bo’sun’s head. Mike sprang aside in 
the nick of time and as he did so, the men in 
the boat leaped ashore, significantly hitching their 
sheath-knives forward as they did so, and Mike, 
realizing the futility of resisting them imarmed, 
beat a hasty retreat. Shouting derisive insults at 
him, the mulatto boat steerer turned and signaled 
to his ship, and a moment later, another boat 
dropped to the water and came speeding shore- 
ward. 

With his men gathered about him, Mike splut- 
tered and fumed, alternately cursing the newcomers 
and berating his men for a lot of cowards for 
allowing them to land. 


202 


THE RAIDERS 


“B’Saint PathrickIV he roared. “Arre yez men 
or jelly-fish to sthand there an’ see yer bo’sun 
sassed by a slinkin’ black haythen av a half-breed 
Portugee? Shure an’ ain’t the foive av yez an’ 
mesilf a match fer thim twilve sn’akin’ rats? An’ 
ye wid sphades an’ irons an’ guns handy!” 

‘^Beggin’ yer pardon, sir,” put in one of the 
men, “but you’re forgettin’ ’tis a free islan’. Its 
not belongin’ to us nor the bark, sir. And there’s 
no reason I seen yet, to put ’em off.” 

“Raisin is ut!” fumed Mike. “Raisin! Shure 
thin do yez be afther thinkin’ ’tis honest worruk 
they’re afther cornin’ here for? Look at thim! 
Howly Saint Pathrick! The dhirty thaves arre 
afther st’alin’ av the ’ile!” 

Mike was right. The boats’ crews from the 
schooner were calmly rolling the oil-filled casks 
to the shore, evidently with the intention of load- 
ing them into their boats. And now that the hostile 
status of the brig was evident, the Hectares men no 
longer hesitated. With set faces and grim de- 
termination they seized the nearest weapons, — 
blubber-spades, elephant clubs, irons, and with 
Mike shouting encouragement and brandishing a 
203 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


heavy club the five whalemen charged towards the 
brig’s boats. Outnumbering the whalemen three 
to one, the oil pirates stood their ground, drawing 
their sheath-knives and seizing their heavy oars in 
readiness to repel their attackers. 

But neither sheath knives nor oars are of much 
avail against long-handled, razor-edged, blubber- 
spades or whale-irons and as one of the Americans 
hurled an iron which buried itself in the thigh 
of one of the raiders, and the gleaming spades 
cut down another, the remaining ten men turned 
tail, dashed to their boats and with frantic strokes 
pulled from shore barely in time to escape the 
maddened whalemen. Had they delayed an in- 
stant longer, all would have been butchered with- 
out mercy, for the whalemen, already soured, 
surly and ugly from the destruction wrought by 
the storm, had gone murder-mad when they saw 
their hard-won, precious oil being boldly stolen 
from under their noses. 

Even as it was, the Portuguese had not escaped 
unscathed. The one struck by the iron was scream- 
ing and struggling unable to move from the heavy 
iron-pole, while his comrade lay moaning in a 
204 


THE RAIDERS 


pool of blood and with a great, gaping gash in 
his shoulder where the spade had struck him. 
Shaking weapons and fists at the rapidly retreat- 
ing boats, and hurling sneers and insults after 
them, the victorious whalemen turned their atten- 
tion to the wounded raiders. 

‘‘Shure, ’tis no desarvin’ o’ pity yez be!” Mike 
informed them. ‘‘But ’tis no haythens we arre. 
B’gorra, Oil bet yez’ll think twoice afore yez arre 
afther buttin’ in an’ staylin’ o’ Yankee sailormins’ 
’ile ag’in!” 

It was no easy matter to extricate the barbed 
iron from the fellow’s thigh and Mike was no gentle 
surgeon and the man’s agonized howls, as the 
bo’sun cut away the flesh and drew out the iron 
must have made shivers run down the spines of 
those on the brig. Carrying the two wounded 
raiders to the shack, Mike and his men rendered 
rough first aid and gave no heed to what was tak- 
ing place on the brig until one of the boat steerers 
gave a warning shout. Leaving the wounded men, 
all rushed out to see three boats leaving the brig 
and heading towards the shore, 

“Glory be!” cried Mike. “ ’Tis more av the 

205 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


same med’cine they do be afther wantin’! An’ 
b’gorra, ’tis thot same they’ll be afther gettin’. 
Come on, yez spalpeens. Shure it’ll take more 
than twenty av yez to bate foive Yanks!” 

Considering that two of his men were Portu- 
guese, Mike’s use of the term “Yankees” was 
rather amusing, but no one noticed it, and indeed, 
the New Bedford Portuguese considered themselves 
as much Americans as did Mike himself. 

Again seizing their weapons, the whalemen pre- 
pared to greet the invaders with a warm reception. 
But as they approached the water-side two of the 
men in the forward boat dropped their oars, 
sprang to their feet and, seizing rifles, fired point- 
blank at the advancing whalemen. It was lucky 
for Mike and his men that the Portuguese were 
poor shots and that their sudden motions rocked 
the boat; but as it was, the bullets sang harmlessly 
over the defenders’ heads. 

Neither Mike nor his men were foolhardy 
enough to attempt to resist firearms with their 
weapons, and judging discretion the better part of 
valor, they retreated towards the hut, while the 
raiders maintained an intermittent fusillade of 
206 


THE RAIDERS 


bullets. Suddenly there was a dull thud, a sharp 
cry from Mike and the bo’sun crumpled up and 
fell to the ground. 

Seizing him by the arms, his men were about 
to drag him to safety when he jerked himself free 
and rose imsteadily to his feet. 

“Bad cess to thim!’^ he roared. “ ’Tis me foine 
lig they’re afther sp’ilin’ entoirely! An’ thot 
costin’ av sivinty-foive bucks! B’gorra, they’ll be 
afther payin^ fer it or me name’s not Mike 
O’Malley!” 

Before they could gain the hut, the marksmen’s 
aim had become dangerously accurate and the men 
were compelled to seek safety behind the casks of 
oil that stood near. Here they squatted, ruefully 
watching the brig’s crew as they hurriedly pro- 
ceeded to load the oil barrels into their boats. 

“Faith, if we had thim guns in the shanty ’twould 
not be a stalin’ so aisy they’d be afther doin’!” 
Mike declared. “B’gorra, Oi’m thinkin’ we moight 
be afther sn’akin’ there an’ gettin’ av thim. Will 
anny av yez f oiler me?” 

All four men answered in the affirmative, and 
throwing themselves flat on their stomachs, the five 
207 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


wormed their way towards the shanty, their move- 
ments concealed from the raiders by the tiers of 
oil-filled casks. In safety they gained the hut and 
entered, and hastily arming his men with the boys’ 
shot guns and two muskets, and providing himself 
with the only remaining firearm, a bomb lance, 
Mike broke open a case of shells and distributed ' 
the ammunition to his men. Then, realizing that 
the range was far too great for the shot guns and 
also that the flimsy boards and canvas walls of the 
hut were but a poor protection from flying bullets, 
the bo’sun instructed his men to crawl back to 
the shelter of the oil-casks. 

Hardly had they done so, when the raiders, hav- 
ing sent aboard to the brig the last of the casks 
that had been rolled to the beach, started forward, 
intent on securing those behind which the whale- 
men crouched. Thinking, no doubt, that the 
Americans had no firearms, and counting on their 
retreating without resistance, the Portuguese ad- 
vanced without firing, but holding their guns in 
readiness. 

Fortunately for them, Mike was far too hot- 
headed and excited to hold his fire until the raiders 
208 


THE RAIDERS 


were within easy range, and before they had pro- 
ceeded fifty yards, flashes spurted from behind the 
casks and bullets and buckshot plowed up the 
sand and sung through the air about the Portuguese. 
Utterly surprised at the unexpected volley, the 
raiders hesitated for an instant, and then fired 
wildly at the pile of casks. Then, an answering shot 
spat from the barricade and as two of their number 
threw up their hands and plunged forward, the 
raiders commenced to retreat, and when a bomb 
from Mike’s gun burst in their midst, they flung 
aside guns and fairly raced towards the boat. 

Leaping in, they shoved off and bent to their 
oars, while about them splashed and spattered the 
bullets of the victorious whalemen. 

And then, from those on shore, a mighty shout 
went up and the beaten raiders turned to see a 
trim, white whaleboat racing towards them from 
beyond the point. 

Madly they pulled to reach their brig ere they 
were overtaken by these new enemies. Already 
the first boat had gained the vessel’s side, and 
panic-stricken, the crew flung themselves over the 
ship’s rails, dropping the painter of their boat and 
209 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


thinking only of safety. But the second boat was 
too late. When still far from the brig, the Hector^ s 
boat was upon them, and, as the raiders glimpsed 
the grim, heroic figure of old Pern standing with 
uplifted iron in the bow, deadly fear gripped them 
and with agonized screams they strove wildly to 
escape. The next instant the heavy iron hurtled 
through the air, and as it crashed among them, 
the men, with one accord, leaped from their seats 
and plunged headlong into the sea. 

“Reckon that finished of ’em!” growled Cap’n 
Pern grimly. “Sarves ’em right if I speared ’em 
like pupusses. Wonder what in tarnation’s the 
rumpus is anyhow. Give way, lads!” 

Long before the boat had reached the beach, 
the brig had slipped her cable, her yard had been 
swung, and as the last of the swimmers pulled 
himself into her chains, she was standing towards 
the open sea. 


CHAPTER XIII 


HOMEWARD BOUND 

S the boat grated upon the beach and 



Cap’n Pem and the two boys leaped 
ashore, Mike started to relate his story 


of the raiders and the battle, but in the midst of 
his narrative his jaw dropped, he rubbed his eyes 
and then suddenly burst into a roar of laughter. 

“Saints presarve us!” he shouted. “Shure an’ 
‘’tis another cripple yez are afther bringin’, — an’ 
black as the ace o’ spades! B’gorra ’tis three 
av’ a koind we are. An’ what wid the b’yes, ’twill 
be a foine full-house we’ll be afther havin’ on the 
barrk!” 

Then, controlling his mirth with an effort, he 
related the events of the raid. 

“Didn’t I tell ye that there bo’sun bird was 
bad luck!” ejaculated Cap’n Pem. “Fust the 
storm an’ then this ’ere raid. How much ’ile’d 
they git off with?” 


211 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“But who were they?’^ queried Tom, before Mike 
could reply. 

“Jes’ low-down or’nary, black Portugee raiders,” 
exploded the old whaleman. “ Tain’t the fust 
time they’ve turned the trick. Derned ef I ain’t 
sorry I didnl’t spear a few on ’em!” 

“Shure, sor, Misther Potter, O’im not countin’ av 
thim casks they took,” explained Mike as Pern 
ceased. “ ’Twas three boatloads they put aboard 
the brig, but b’gorra Oim thinkin’ ’tis not manny. 
The most av thim wuz yonder where we druv thim 
off. An’ faith, Oim afther thinkin’ the storrm bust 
more av the casks than the haythens sthole.” 

But the loss of oil was far greater than Mike 
had imagined, for when they reached the pile of 
casks which had served as a barricade, they dis- 
covered that nearly every one in the outer tiers was 
riddled with bullets and that the precious oil had 
leaked out. Of the hundreds of filled casks which 
the men had toiled so hard to secure, barely two 
hundred were left — not enough to grease their 
boots with, as Cap’n Pern put it. 

It was all very discouraging and disheartening, 
and while Cap’n Pern knew that, had he not gone 
212 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


to rescue Sam, the loss would not have occurred, 
or at least would have been far less, still he re- 
frained from mentioning it, for to the whalemen 
the saving of a human life, even if a crippled 
negro, meant far more than several thousand dollars 
worth of oil. Mike too, was far more disturbed 
and disgruntled over the injury to his wooden leg 
than over the loss of oil or the other misfortunes 
that had befallen the whalemen, and every 
man agreed that it was all due to the 
bo’sun bird having rested upon the Hectofs 
mast. 

In fact, the men, as a whole, were very morose 
and sullen and not a few, including Cap’n Pern 
himself, expressed doubts of the Hector coming 
back and declared that if she were wrecked it 
would be no more than might be expected. It 
was useless for the boys to try to laugh at their 
forebodings, or to ridicule them out of their super- 
stitions, for their belief was firmly fixed and the 
very fact that so many misfortunes had befallen 
them was proof, to their minds, that they were 
right. 

Indeed, as the boys constantly heard the men 

213 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


discussing the matter and listened to stories of 
death and disaster following the visits of bo’sun 
birds to other ships, they found themselves getting 
nervous. And when, after the Hector was a week 
overdue no signs of her had been seen, the boys 
began to fear that something had happened to the 
bark and that they would be marooned upon the 
island for an indefinite time. But despite their 
troubles and superstitious fears, the men went back 
to their labors and as the sea elephants again 
began to return to the island they resumed the 
killing and boiling. 

In the meantime, the two wounded raiders were 
on the road to recovery, although unable to work, 
but they steadfastly refused to divulge any infor- 
mation in regard to the brig or the raid. 

“Wall, I reckon ye’ll tell when we git ye back 
to New Bedford an’ shet up in jail,” remarked Cap’n 
Pern. And deciding it was useless to question 
them further, he dropped the matter. 

Then, one day, as the boys clambered over the 
hillside above the camp, Jim glanced seawards 
and gave a glad shout. Faint upon the horizon 
gleamed the upper sails of a ship. 

214 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


‘‘Hurrah!” he cried. “There’s a ship. I’ll bet 
it’s the Hector!’^ 

“Maybe it’s some other ship,” said Tom. “And 
perhaps it’s not coming here at all. Let’s wait and 
be sure before we tell the others.” 

But the vessel was evidently heading for the 
island, for gradually sail after sail rose above 
the tossing sea and each minute the ship became 
more and more distinct, until the watching boys 
could see that it was a bark with every sail set. 

“It must be the Hector F’ insisted Jim. “Come 
on, Tom, let’s go down and tell the men.” 

But by the time they had reached the shore, 
Cap’n Pern had already sighted the oncoming vessel 
and both he and Mike were studying her through 
their glasses. 

“/s it the Hector?"'' cried Tom. “Oh, do hurry 
up and tell us!” 

“Looks like her,^” admitted Cap’n Pern, “but 
can’t say yit awhile. Cornin’ dead head-on and 
can’t make her out.” 

“Shure an’ ’tis the barrk all right, all right,” 
declared Mike, decisively. “Oi kin say thot patch 
on her foretorpsail phwat Oi put there mesilf.” 

215 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


‘‘Demed ef ye kin, ye old liar!” exclaimed 
Cap’n Pern. “Reckon my eyes is better>’n yourn, 
an’ I can’t see it.” 

“Thin ye’re oisight’s a-f ailin’ yez,” replied Mike, 
with a chuckle, “as well as yer manners, Misther 
Potter, sorJ” 

But here further argument ceased, for at the 
moment the bark altered her course a little dis- 
closing her hull and spars and old Pern slapped 
his thigh. 

“Blow me if ’tain’t!” he cried. “Cornin’ a sky- 
hookin’, too! Git busy, lads, the Hector’s a-comin’! 
Work lively an^ we’ll be home’ard boun’ this time 
to-morrer!” 

Elated at the good news, the men fell to with 
a will and by the time the bark shortened sail and 
slowly worked into the anchorage, everything was 
in readiness to be sent aboard. The boys thought 
they had never seen anything quite so beautiful 
as the old bark and a wave of homesickness swept 
over them as the anchor plunged into the sea and 
the Hector swung to her moorings off the beach. 
But even before the yards had been swimg or the 
cable had roared out, Cap’n Pern had manned his 
216 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


boat and the boys were speeding towards the bark. 

Welcome, indeed, to the boys were the kindly, 
sunbrowned features of Captain Edwards, the 
scarred face of Mr. Kemp, the stolid, expression- 
less face of Swanson, the freckled countenance 
of the boy and even the rough, unshaven, but well- 
known members of the crew. It was almost like 
being home again to be once more upon the decks 
of the bark and the boys could scarcely believe 
that they had been away from her for more than 
two months. 

‘‘How are you getting on, boys?” cried the 
captain as he shook their hands heartily. “Got 
enough oil to fill up, I suppose.” 

Then, turning to Cap’n Pern: “Everything 
ready to come aboard. Pern? How many casks 
you got? Hope you^ve had good luck. Crew we 
put ashore on Deception had tough luck. Ele- 
phants scarce and whole catch didn’t come to two 
hundred bar’ls.” 

But the news that Cap’n Pern brought was far 
from encouraging and the face of the skipper be- 
came very grave as he listened to the mate’s story 
of the raid and the loss by storm. 

217 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

“I expect that’s the same ship that’s been over 
to Deception,” he said. “The men reported vast 
quantities of bones from last season. Very likely 
they intended killing here, and finding the oil and 
so few men decided to raid it and save the trouble 
of killing and boiling for themselves. It’s an old 
trick of some of the island Portugees, and with oil 
so high they could well afford to take risks. Glad 
you got a couple of ’em. Maybe they’ll tell 
enough so the gang can be broken up. It’s too 
bad, though, the whole catch won’t pay expenses 
unless we have good luck and take whales on the 
voyage. Well, no use crying over spilt milk. 
I’m thankful no men are lost. So you found a 
castaway, eh? If everything’s ready, lower the 
boats and get everything off. I’m anxious to get 
clear as soon as possible. Doni’t like the looks 
of the glass. I’m afraid we’re in for a rip-snorter 
of a blow.” 

Rapidly the goods on shore were loaded into the 
boats and brought off and within a few hours of 
the time when the Hector had arrived, the last 
boat load was on board, the boats were at davits, 
and with the joyous feeling of being homeward 
218 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


bound the crew bent to the handspikes and roared 
the ever- welcome chorus of: 

We’re homeward bound, may the winds blow fair. 
Good-bye, fare ye well. 

Good-bye, fare ye well! 

Wafting us true to friends waiting there, 

Hurrah, my bullies, we’re homeward bound! 

Then, as the bark veered to the wind and the 
great sails filled and the land slipped away astern, 
the boys looked for the last time upon the desolate 
Antarctic island with its towering mountains, its 
wheeling albatrosses, its giant seals and its for- 
bidding shores. 

With every stitch of canvas set, the Hector heeled 
far over to the freshening breeze and plunged for- 
ward like a steamer through the seas, with the 
foaming bow- wave rising to the catheads and acres 
of yeasty froth streaming astern. 

Steadily she raced onward towards the north 
and still no signs of the approaching storm which 
the skipper had feared. But the glass was falling 
steadily, the clouds scurried in wispy shreds across 
the sky and the waves constantly increased in size. 

The following morning, the boys came on deck 

219 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


to find the crew aloft shortening sail, with only the 
lower topsails and spanker set and the bark wal- 
lowing sluggishly to the long, oily rollers running 
in from the western horizon. 

‘‘Looks like a mighty hard blow a-comin’,” re- 
marked Mr. Kemp to the boys. “Some wind be- 
hind these rollers you can bet.^’ 

Then, hurrying forward, he barked out orders 
while the crew scurried about, lashing down every- 
thing movable, securing the boats and making 
everything snug. Much to the boys’ surprise the 
negro, Sam, was the liveliest and hardest worker 
of all and despite his peg-leg, he scrambled aloft 
like a cat and hopped along on the footropes with 
the best of them. 

Cap’n Pern eyed him approvingly. “Demed 
if he ain’t a proper sailorman,” he remarked. 
“W!isht ev’ry goshrderned mail’d lose a leg if 
’twould make ’em good as him.” 

By noon, the sky had become a deep, sickly, 
yellowish-gray, the seas had increased to mountain- 
ous size, and ever and anon, a sudden blast of 
cold, chilling wind screeched through the rigging, 
heeling the bark to her lee-rails, only to be fol- 
220 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


lowed by an ominous calm. By now, the bark 
had been stripped to close-reefed topsails and 
Captain Edwards and old Pern paced the deck 
with anxious faces, peering intently into the west, 
while at the wheel three men were stationed with 
lashings ready for instant use in case of emergency. 
Along the rails and between the masts, lifelines 
had been stretched and everywhere were evidences 
of preparations for severe weather. 

Suddenly, from the lookout forward, came a 
sharp, warning shout and against the black horizon, 
the boys saw a streak of milky-white, gleaming 
like snow against the inky sea. 

“Hold fast!” roared Cap’n Pern, plunging to the 
shrouds and bracing himself. “Git below there, 
boys! Hurricane’s a cornin’!” 

But before they could obey, the screaming wind 
was upon them. The boys had a passing glimpse 
of the steersmen hastily lashing themselves fast, 
of the skipper wrapping his arms about a back- 
stay, and the next second, they were half smothered 
under a blinding, roaring sheet of snow and hail. 
They felt themselves lifted from the deck, their 
hands were torn loose from their grip upon the 
221 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

companionway; they were whirled, bumped, tossed 
and rolled head over heels and were sure their 
last moment had come when, with a resounding 
thump, they brought up against the mizzen mast 
and clung to the belaying pins for dear life. Over 
and over went the bark, until it seemed as if her 
swaying yards would be buried in the hissing brine 
and her deck sloped like the roof of a house, while 
overhead, with the roar of thunder, howled the 
gale. Then, when the boys thought destruction 
was inevitable, there was a report like a cannon 
above them and the great topsail ripped from its 
bolt-ropes and sped, like a huge bird, into the 
murk. Gradually and sluggishly the bark righted, 
her bow swung off, and gathering headway, she 
sped before the hurricane like a frightened bird. 
For hour after hour the wind screeched through 
the rigging and the Hector tore onwards before the 
gale, burying herself under tons of green water, 
staggering drunkenly to the summits of the white- 
crested waves, but gallantly, bravely, weathering 
the storm. After the first mad onslaught the worst 
of the hurricane had blown itself out and the boys, 
clinging to the lifeline, had crawled aft, drenched 
222 


HOMEWARD BOUND 


and half frozen and had taken to the cabin. Then, 
changing clothes and buttoning pea-jackets and oil 
skins about them, they again made their way on 
deck, for life was unbearable in the tossing, groan- 
ing, heaving cabin and the boys felt deathly sick 
as long as they were below. 

The storm, however, while severe, was not of 
long duration and by eight bells the wind had 
died down, the glass had begun to rise and Captain 
Edwards ordered the crew to make more sail. 

Under her increased canvas, the bark made 
better weather of it and by night she was sailing 
easily, but with terrific speed, through the still 
heavy seas. By the following morning, the sky 
was clear and blue, the wind had died to a good, 
stiff sailing breeze, the sea had fallen to a moderate 
swell and the decks and woodwork glistened like 
frost as the dried salt sparkled under a brilliant 
sun. 

“Gee, but the old Hector is a wonder, isn’t she!” 
exclaimed Tom, as the boys reached the deck and 
gazing about saw that there was not a sign of 
damage from the stress the ship had been through. 

“She is, that,” replied the captain. “Ships like 

223 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


her are not built nowadays and she’s good for an- 
other hundred years.” 

“How about your old bo’sun bird, now?” 
laughed Jim as Cap’n Pern approached. “Ac- 
cording to you we should have sunk yesterday.” 

“Hump!” snorted the old man. “Don’t ’spect 
one bird kin bring bad luck f’rever, do ye? Reckon 
he’d oughta be satisfied with all the shennanigans 
he’s kicked up a’ready.” 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 

D ay after day, the wind held fair and 
steady, and the gallant, old bark hurled 
herself through the hissing seas as 
though she knew she was homeward bound and 
as anxious to see New Bedford light as were 
the men. 

The second day after the storm, sail after sail 
had been piled onto her and even her stunsails had 
been set, for the captain’s last hope of making 
the cruise a success lay in securing sperm whales, 
and he drove his ship at her utmost in order to 
reach the tropics and the sperm whale grounds as 
soon as possible. 

In order to obtain fresh supplies, the Hector 
again put into Tristan da Cunha and the boys 
received a rousing welcome from Paul and Getty. 
When the story of their adventures on Elephant 
Island was told, the Potter boys thought Tom and 
Jim the two luckiest fellows in the world, and they 
225 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


roared with merriment over Mike’s amazement at 
seeing Sam and finding him a negro with a wooden 
leg. But they were just as firm in their belief 
that the bo’sun bird was responsible for the ship’s 
bad luck as were Pern and Mike, while their 
grandfather prophesied that, in his opinion, the 
bark’s troubles were not yet over. 

“Bonn’ to be a death in the bark’s comp’ny,” 
he declared. “Never knowed it to fail. Jes’ as 
soon as that happens the curse’ll be off.” 

“Well, there’ ve been plenty of chances to have 
a death, Tom reminded him, “and yet there hasn’t 
been. Seems to me, if the bird wanted any one 
to die he’s missed some awful good opportuni- 
ties.” 

“Mebbe,” admitted old Lem. “But ye never can 
tell what fate has in store fer sailors. I been to 
sea nigh fifty year an’ I tell ye the more ye see 
the less ye knows.” 

But despite their superstitions, the islanders 
sympathized most heartily with Captain Edwards 
and all wished him the best of luck and professed 
confidence in his finding whales and filling up with 
sperm oil. When the bark hoisted anchor and 
226 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 


sailed from Tristan, one member of her company 
was left behind, for Sam declared his intention 
of waiting on the island for the yearly mail ship 
which would take him back to St. Helena. 

Three days after the island had dropped below 
the horizon astern, the lookout on the Hector re- 
ported a steamer’s smoke ahead, and soon after- 
wards, the smudge of black was visible to those 
on deck. 

“Can’t imagine what she is,” declared Captain 
Edwards. “We’re out of the track of merchant 
ships.” 

“Maybe it’s a German raider,’*’ suggested Jim. 
“Then Cap’n Pern would crow over us for scoffing 
at the bo’sun bird.” 

Scarcely had he spoken when Mr. Kemp hailed 
them from the crosstrees. 

“Warship, sir!” he shouted. 

“Gosh, perhaps you’re right, Jim!” exclaimed 
Tom. ‘‘Say, wouldn’t that be the limit?” 

“Jest erbout what I’d be expectin’ of,” declared 
Cap’n Pern. “Onluckiest cruise ever I seed. 
Reckon I’ll stick ter shore arter this.” 

“Better wait till you get there,” teased Jim. 

227 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“If it’s a raider you may be killed. Some one’s 
got to die, you know.” 

“Shet up!” retorted the old whaleman petu- 
lantly. “Ain’t there ’nough troubles without a 
talkin’ ’bout bein’ kilt?” 

But all fears as to the identity of the approach- 
ing warship were put at rest a moment later, when 
the second mate called down that she was British 
and flying signals. 

“Can you read them?” asked the skipper. 

“Yes, sir,” replied Mr. Kemp. 

Slowly he read the flags and called them out, 
while below. Captain Edwards ran his finger down 
the code book and, a moment later, with a wild 
yell, he dashed down the book and seemed sud- 
denly to have gone raving mad. 

Throwing his hat in the air, shouting and laugh- 
ing, the usually staid and dignified skipper danced 
and leaped about and capered like a schoolboy. 
Then, leaping to the rail and steadying himself 
with a grip on the shrouds, he yelled, “Whoop her 
up, boys, the war’s over! Three cheers, my lads 
— three times three!” And as the good tidings 
dawned upon them, the crew gave such rousing 
228 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 

cheers that even those upon the warship must have 
heard. 

“Up with your ensign, Mr. Potter. Up with 
Old Glory and salute!” roared the skipper. “And 
dress ship! Run up everything you can find!” 

But already the boys had forestalled Cap’n Pern 
and before the old mate could reach the flag- 
locker, Tom was bending the Stars and Stripes to 
the halliards and a moment later it rose fluttering 
to the peak. Three times he dipped it in salute 
to the trim British cruiser, and, an instant later, 
the Union Jack dipped in return. Long ere the 
cruiser was out of sight strings of gay bunting were 
fluttering up to the bark’s mastheads and Captain 
Edwards ordered the Hector hove-to. 

“No more work to-day !>” cried he, as the yards 
were swung and the light sails furled. “Summon 
all hands and tell them it’s a holiday, Mr. Kemp. 
Serve cigars from the after stores, and tell cook 
to get up the best meal he’s ever cooked for the 
crew. Nothing’s too good for this day!” 

Never had a more boisterous or uproarious day 
been spent at sea than that which celebrated the 
close of the World War on the old Hector^ even 
229 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


though the Armistice had been signed two months 
previously. 

A few days later, a whale was sighted and the 
spirits of every one rose as three boats were 
lowered, Captain Edwards himself going in one. 
But despite every effort, not one of the boats suc- 
ceeded in getting near the whale until after a 
long and heart-breaking chase. Then Cap’n Pern 
got fast, but before the other boats could come 
near, the iron drew and the thoroughly frightened 
whale disappeared. Crestfallen, the three boats 
returned to the bark and once more, yards were 
squared and the Hector plunged northwards on her 
course. Then followed day after day of light, 
baffling winds and an oil-like sea upon which the 
Hector rolled lazily with canvas slatting idly 
against the masts and with barely enough motion 
to give her steerage way. 

Lolling upon the decks on the fourth day of the 
sweltering calm, the boys were gazing idly at the 
lofty trucks as they slowly swung to and fro across 
the cloudless sky, when Tom suddenly jerked him- 
self upright and stared fixedly at the fore royal 
yard. 


230 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 


"‘Gee, it is!” he ejaculated. “Look, Jim, isrt’t 
that a bo’sun bird up on the fore royal yard, close 
to the mast?” 

Jim peered at the spot indicated and for a 
moment could see nothing. Then a slight move- 
ment caught his eye and he made out the snowy 
plumage and long tail feathers of the bird. 

“You’re right!” he assured Tom. “It’s anothei 
bo’sun all right. Funny no one else has seen it.” 

“No one’s looked aloft,’’ replied Tom. “They’re 
all busy on deck and even Cap^n Pern hasn’t 
bothered watching the sails, it’s been so calm.” 

“Well, don’t let’s tell any one,” whispered Jim. 
“It’ll just make them nervous.” 

But the bird had no intention of not having his 
presence known, and scarcely had Jim spoken when 
it uttered several harsh cries. Instantly, every 
man’s eyes were turned to the royal yard and at 
that moment a second bo’sun bird fluttered down 
and alighted beside the first. Almost like a dirge, 
a deep, moaning sigh arose from the crew. 

“Gosh!” exclaimed Tom. “That must mean 
twice as much bad luck to come and three men to 

die. Capii’n Pern will be ” 

231 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

“Thar she blows!” shouted the lookout, and in- 
stantly the harbingers of misfortune were forgotten 
as the men rushed to their boats. 

Within a mile of the motionless bark, two big 
sperm whales were swimming lazily, now and then 
rolling on their sides, occasionally slapping their 
enormous flukes against the water playfully and 
evidently utterly oblivious of the enemies so near. 
Rapidly all four boats were lowered and went 
speeding towards the whales, and ten minutes after 
they had been sighted both of the creatures had irons 
in their sides and were towing two boats each at 
express train speed. Directly away from the 
Hector they sped; one to the west and the other 
to the north, and in an incredibly short space of 
time the boats were out of sight of the deck. But 
the lookouts on the mastheads could still see them 
and constantly reported their doings to Mike, who 
had charge of the ship. 

“Skipper’s fin-up!” shouted a lookout presently. 
“Mister Potter’s millin’! Now he’s sounded! 
Breached again! Going in! In his flurry! 
Spoutin/’ blood! Fin-up!” 

232 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 


“Hurrah, they’ve killed ’em both!” yelled the 
boys, who had been watching from a point of 
vantage on the main royal yard. “Now who says 
bo’sun birds are bad luck!” 

“Faith Oi do,” replied Mike. “ ’Tis tin good 
moiles they be an’ wid noight a-comin’ on. 
B’gorra, ’tis a foine fix we do be in wid the barrk 
becalmed. Shure ’tis aither losin’ o’ the whales 
or av the ship for thim, loike as not.>^’ 

Then, as if to prove the ridiculous superstition 
false, a breath of hot wind stirred, the Hector’s 
upper sails; another stronger puff filled the top- 
sails; the glassy sea broke into shimmering crin- 
kled ripples, and ten minutes later, the bark was 
gliding swiftly towards the distant boats before a 
steady wind. 

Just as the sun was sinking beyond the rim of 
the sea, the two whales were alongside and by the 
time darkness fell, cutting-in was in full swing 
and the black smoke of the try-works rose like a 
pall above the Hector’s trucks. 

Throughout the night, the following day and 
the next night, the work went on without cessation 
and at the end of the time one hundred and ten 
233 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

barrels of sperm oil had been stowed in the bark’s 
hold. 

Once more the captain and men looked hopeful 
while Tom and Jim teased old Pern and the others 
unmercifully over their superstition. At first, the 
old whaleman strove to find some argument or 
excuse to uphold his belief, but failing in this, 
he wisely declined to say anything, while Mike, 
with Irish wit, declared that three always was a 
lucky number whether bo’sun birds or anything else 
and that he was sure that their bad luck was over. 

Captain Edwards claimed that he never had had 
much faith in such things and was convinced there 
was nothing in it, while Mr. Kemp admitted that 
he never knew of three bo’sun birds lighting on 
one ship on one voyage before and therefore didn’t 
know what it might foretell. But not even the 
most superstitious and pessimistic seaman could 
have found any reason for saying, “I told you so,” 
for the weather held fine until after the bark had 
crossed the equator and three more whales had 
been taken and had added their quota of nearly 
one hundred barrels of oil. 

Every one was in high spirits and Captain Ed- 

234 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 

wards felt confident that even if he could not fill 
up he could secure enough oil to meet the expenses 
of the cruise when he reached the West Indian 
grounds. Once more, however, ill luck seemed 
to be with the Hector. For week after week she 
cruised about, with lookouts constantly at the mast- 
heads, but never the welcome “There she blows!” 
sounded from aloft, and once again the men began 
to grumble and the skipper lost his smile and 
jollity. 

“Guess it’s no use, Mr. Potter,” he announced 
one day. “Might as well give up. We’re just 
wasting time and money here, — must be I’m get- 
ting too old for a-whaling.” 

Faint upon the distant horizon, shimmered a 
small island, and putting his glasses to his eyes the 
captain studied it intently for a time. 

“I expect we’d better run over to Monita 
yonder,” he remarked, half to himself. “There’s 
good water there and coconuts. Might as well 
fill the casks and let the men stretch their legs 
ashore before squaring away for Gay Head.” 

At his direction, the helmsman spun the wheel 
a few spokes,, the bark’s head swung towards 
235 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 

the island and the boys, elated at thoughts of 
going ashore, gazed with interest at the little 
speck of sea-girt land as the bark rapidly bore 
down upon it. Soon the nodding palms upon the 
shores were visible, the boys could see the rich, 
green growth upon the low hills; upon the beach 
of coral sand they could see the slender thread 
of white foam and near one end they made out a 
small stream flowing across the beach to the sea. 
Never, they thought, had they seen such a beau- 
tiful spot as this little West Indian island. They 
were fascinated by the wondrous blue and tur- 
quoise of the sea. The fact that it was unin- 
habited thrilled! them with the boyish love of 
desert islands, and they were crazy with impatience 
to get ashore and explore the land beyond the 
wave-worn rocks that bounded the beach at either 
end. 

Half a mile from the shore, the bark came to 
anchor, and as the boat was lowered and the boys 
dropped into it, they uttered cries of wonder and 
delight at the marvelous scene which met their 
eyes as they looked over the boat’s side. Through 
the crystal-clear water the bottom, five fathoms 
236 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 

below, was as plain as though they were looking 
through air. Half buried in the sand, was the 
bark’s great anchor with its trailing cable; huge 
starfish and sponges of every hue dotted the ocean’s 
floor; big purple and violet sea-fans waved 
gently to an unseen current and about the many- 
colored masses of coral, gay-hued fish swam to 
and fro like submarine butterflies. 

As the boat grated upon the snowy sand beach, 
the boys leaped ashore, and yelling like Indians 
with the sheer joy of the feel of land under their 
feet they raced up the beach. While some of the 
men rolled the water casks to the edge of the 
stream, others proceeded to gather coconuts, while 
Cap’n Pern sealed himself under the shade of a 
spreading tree, and lighting his pipe lay back 
upon the soft, warm sand. 

Intent upon exploration, the two boys hurried 
along the beach to the outjutting rocks — stopping 
now and then to examine some odd specimen of 
marine life cast up by the sea — and scrambling over 
the sharp limestone, they found themselves at a 
little semicircular cove bordered by a second beach. 

A few yards from them, a large, irregular gray- 

237 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


ish object was bobbing about at the edge of the 
water and thinking it some strange fish or animal, 
the boys hurried to it. Much to their surprise, 
they found it to be a mass of curious, porous 
material unlike anything they had ever seen. 

‘Tt looks like pumice-stone,” commented Tom. 
‘‘But there isn’t any volcano here.” 

“And it’s soft,” announced Jim who had poked 
it with a bit of driftwood. 

“Must be some sort of sponge, I guess,” said 
Tom. “Let’s pull it ashore and look at it.” 

Bringing sticks from the fringe of brush along 
the beach, the boys tried to drag the stuff ashore, 
but it broke or pulled apart easily and the sticks 
could get no hold on it. 

“Funny stuff,” remarked Tom, as he stooped to 
examine a small lump he had dragged up with 
his stick. “Something like water-soaked bread. 
Hello! Hasn’t it got a funny smell.” 

“And here’s a piece of horn or something in it,” 
exclaimed Jim. “Say, let’s take this piece back 
and ask Cap’n Pern about it. They must have 
some coconuts down by now.” 

Picking up the small piece of the material which 

238 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 

had so aroused their curiosity, they made their 
way back over the rocks and found the old whale- 
man snoring. 

‘‘Oh, Cap’n Pern!” cried Tom, poking their 
friend gently in the ribs. “Look here, what’s this 
stuff?” 

“Lemme be!” ejaculated the old man. “Derned 
ef ye ain^t a nuisance. Why can’t ye ’muse 
yersel’s? What ye want, anyhow?” 

“We want to know what this is,” explained Tom, 
holding out the lump of greasy, gray stuff they had 
found. “There’s a big pile of it yonder and we 
never saw anything like it.” 

Impatiently Pern raised his head, glanced at the 
object Tom held out, and the next instant leaped 
to his feet as if a bomb had exploded under him. 

“Jumping Jehosephat!” he shouted as the boys 
gazed at him in amazement. “Where’n tarnation’d 
ye git it? Got a lot on it, ye say! Well, I’ll 
be everlastin’ly biled! What is it? Sufferin’ 
cats, don’t ye know? It’s ambergris, boys, amber- 
gris, an’ wuth five hundred dollars a poun’ ef it’s 
wuth a cent! Come ’long, where in Sam Hill is 
it?” 


239 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


“Ambergris?” cried Jim as the two boys hurried 
towards their find, with Cap’n Pern stumping at 
his top speed beside them, “and worth five hundred 
dollars a pound! Hurrah! We’ve got a fortune, 
Tom. There must be a ton of it.” 

But although there was far less than a ton of 
the valuable material, there was enough to make 
the old whaleman’s eyes fairly bulge from their 
sockets, and, calling on the boys to help, he plunged 
into the water to his armpits and feverishly rolled 
and dragged the mass of ambergris beyond the 
water’s edge. Then, floundering about in the shoal 
water, the three gathered a number of smaller 
masses which had broken loose, and hunted over 
every corner of the beach and rocks searching for 
more, while Cap’n Pern constantly uttered exclama- 
tions of wonder and congratulations to the boys. 

“Better’n a full cargo o’ ’ile!” he declared. 
“Why, ding bust me! Ye’ve got nigh onto two 
hunderd pound here, an’ that’s a hunderd thousan’ 
dollars — ^jes’ as good as two thousan’ bar’l o’ ile. 
Demed ef ye ain’t millionaires! Reckon they’re 
bein’t no more. Run over and fetch the men, 
Tom, and hev ’em bring some o’ them casks.” 

240 


THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY 


When at last the ambergris was safely secured in 
the casks and in the boat, everything else had been 
forgotten, and hastily throwing in the coconuts, 
Cap’n Pern and the two boys were pulled to the 
bark. Carefully and with constant cautioning 
from Cap’n Pern the casks of treasure from the 
sea were lifted on board and carried aft, where, 
to the wondering eyes of the skipper and the 
others on board, the boys’ find was exhibited. 

“But it’s not ours,” declared Tom, when the 
captain congratulated the boys on having made a 
fortune. “It belongs to the ship. We’re officers, 
you know and we won’t take more than our lay.” 

Despite the captain’s protests, the boys were 
firm in their decision and at last the other gave in. 

“Well, have it your way if it pleases you,” 
agreed the captain. “The ambergris weighs a little 
over 300 pounds so your share of that alone will be 
about $3,000, each. Looks as if the Hector wasn’t 
so unlucky after all. If we’d taken three thousand 
barrels of oil — ^besides what we have — it wouldn’t 
have been worth more than those casks. You’ve 
saved the day, boys.” 

“Reckon I’ll have ter knuckle down about them 
241 


THE DEEP SEA HUNTERS 


there bo’sun birds,” chuckled Cap’n Pern. “IVieb- 
be three on ’em does mean good luck, jes’ as Mike 
said.” 

“Shure an’ didn’t Oi tell yez ’twas a full-house 
we’d be afther havin’ aboord ship?” exclaimed 
Mike. “An’ b’gorra, ’tis harrd to bate thot — burrds 
or no burrds!” 

“Or perhaps it was your wooden leg,” laugned 
Tom. “Dad said the bark was as likely to go 
to sea with a wooden-legged mate as to come back 
with a load of ambergris, and it’s done both. Gee, 
won’t we have the laugh on him, though!” 

( 1 ) 


THE END 


« 





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